Discuss physical attractiveness as a factor affecting attraction
AO1
certain physical traits are desirable and are thus naturally selected, leading to a frequency increase over time
Symmetry - balanced faces are seen as more attractive as it is an ‘honest’ indicator of genetic fitness
Halo effect - physical attractiveness can positively influence perceptions of other characteristics e.g. funnier, smarter, kinder etc.
Females that have slim waists and wider hips are seen as more attractive as this indicates fertility (but no pregnancy)
Matching Hypothesis - we are attracted to and form relationships with those who are of a similar level of attractiveness as ourselves, this balances our want of the best possible partner with the lessened risk of rejection (for being out of their league)
AO3
Peterson and Palmer (2012) found that ppts judged physically attractive people as being more politically knowledgeable even when they were told they had no particular expertise
worrying implications in democracy, risks of placing people in power based merely on their appearance
research support for the matching hypothesis, couples independently rated on a scale of 1-10, those with a more similar rating were most likely to be together 6 months post study
research contradicting the matching hypothesis, Taylor (2011) studied online dating site date choices, found people sought meetings with those more attractive than themselves
research support in waist-to-hip ratio, analysed that of models on catwalks/ in magazines, found a fairly consistent ratio of 0.7, curves are a consistent measure of attractiveness
Cunningham (1995) found prominent cheekbones, small noses and high eyebrows to be deemed attractive by white, Hispanic and Asian males, suggesting an element of universality to the phenomenon of ‘attractiveness’
some partnerships do not have equality of attractiveness, yet last lifetimes, suggests there is more to attraction than physical appearance, personality is probably more important in commitment when looking long term