Physical attractiveness

Males care more about attractiveness than females, reflecting

intra-sexual selection

5 common factors of attractiveness according to evolutionary theory

-Signs of genetic fitness

-Facial symmetry

-Signs of health

-Indicators of youth

-Signs of sexual maturity

What is

-Signs of genetic fitness

-Facial symmetry

-Signs of health

-Indicators of youth

-Signs of sexual maturity

5 common factors of attraction, according to evolutionary theory

What did Shackleford + Larsen (1997) find?

People w/ symmetrical faces rated as more attractive

Possibly a sign of genetic fitness that cant be faked

Who found People w/ symmetrical faces rated as more attractive

Possibly a sign of genetic fitness that cant be faked?

Shackleford + Larsen (1997)

Importance of initial attraction

McNulty (2008) found initial attractiveness continued to be an important factor years later

Who found that initial attraction continued to be an important factor years later?

McNulty (2008)

People have developed, through evolution, a preference for features that signal

high quality genetics

Example of features that signal youth

Baby face

What are baby faces called?

Neotenous features

What is neotenous features?

Baby face

Example of neotenous features

Large eyes

Round face

Big lips

Small nose

What is

Large eyes

Round face

Big lips

Small nose

4 examples of neotenous features

Why is a baby face atttactive?

Triggers a protective or caring instinct

Valuable resource for women wanting to reproduce

What is

Triggers a protective or caring instinct

Valuable resource for women wanting to reproduce

Why a baby face is attractive

Who discovered the Halo effect?

Dion (1972)

What is the Halo effect?

People have preconceived ideas of attractive ppl’s personalities- almost universally positive

Dion (1972) found physically attractive ppl rated more kind, sociable and successful than unattractive people

What is

People have preconceived ideas of attractive ppl’s personalities- almost universally positive

Dion (1972) found physically attractive ppl rated more kind, sociable and successful than unattractive people

Halo effect

What is the matching hypothesis?

Proposed by Walter (1966)

Idea people rate themselves and go for similarly attractive people

Have to make a realistic judgement about own value + compromise based on that

Reduces chance of rejection

What is

Proposed by Walter (1966)

Idea people rate themselves and go for similarly attractive people

Have to make a realistic judgement about own value + compromise based on that

Reduces chance of rejection

Matching hypothesis

2 strengths of physical attractiveness

-Cultural consistency in what is attractive

-Research support for halo effect

Strength of physical attractiveness - Cultural consistency of what is considered attractive

P: Cultural consistency of what is considered attractive

E: Cunningham et al (1995) found female features of small nose, high eyebrows and large eyes were rated attractive by White, Hispanic and Asian males. Ppl judged attractive judged to be more trustworthy and friendly

I+D: Universality suggests nature side of nature vs nurture

C: Consistency suggests physical attractiveness is culturally independent and may have evolutionary roots

Strength of physical attractiveness - Research support for Halo effect

P: Research support for halo effect

E: Palmer + Peterson (2012) found physically attractive people rated as more politically knowledgable and competent than unattractive people. Persisted even when Ps knew they had no expertise

C: Halo effect can be observed in real life

Limitation of physical attractiveness

Not everyone considers physical attractiveness to be important

Limitation of physical attractiveness - Not everyone considers physical attractiveness to be important

P: Not everyone considers physical attractiveness to be important

E: Those who scored highly on sexist scale MACHO were more influenced by physical attractiveness. Low scorers less sensitive to this

I+D: Beta bias

C: Effects of physical attractiveness can be moderated by other factors