Physical Attractiveness (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

Physical attractiveness

• Physical attractiveness may be what first draws a couple together

  • Each partner finds  the physical appearance of their mate to be pleasing, and this further motivates the couple to spend more time together

• There is some research which  attempts to explain who/what is deemed attractive universally:

  • The babyface hypothesis (Berry & MacArthur, 1986) rests on the assumption that people are drawn to the appealing, unthreatening features of babies, e.g. large eyes, soft skin, and a blemish-free appearance, as these act as social releasers prompting nurture and feelings of protectiveness in the observer

  • Attractive children and adults are judged more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them (Langlois et al. 2001)

  • Facial configurations which closely resemble the population mean and which have symmetry, dimorphism (i.e., a female face looks identifiably feminine), and youthfulness tend to be preferred across cultures, as this may signal the ability to develop normally, whatever environmental conditions are present

  • Being found physically attractive can have wide-ranging, long-term benefits, such as being  less lonely, less socially anxious and more popular (Feingold, 1992)

  • Attractive people may receive less harsh punishments in a court of law than unattractive people (Zebrowitz & McDonald, 2001)

The halo effect

• The halo effect is a term coined by Dion et al. (1972) to describe the array of positive personal qualities, traits and skills that are attributed to good-looking people

• It can be summarised as the ‘what is beautiful is good’ stereotype

• The halo effect occurs when a good-looking person is thought to be more sociable, kind, intelligent, interesting; they are deemed to be socially desirable

• The halo effect operates outside of gender, age and cultural parameters

  • It appears to be a universal construct; e.g., students from the USA and Korea found good-looking people to be more friendly and trustworthy than those deemed unattractive (Kim, 1997)

• The influence of entertainment such as Disney films perpetuates the stereotype that beauty equals goodness, e.g. heroes and heroines are attractive; ‘baddies’ are generally ‘ugly’ (large hooked noses, hunched backs, bad skin, crooked features)

• The halo effect is a type of cognitive bias, as it involves generalising conclusions and forming an impression about a good-looking person based only on their attractiveness and on no other available information

The matching hypothesis

• The matching hypothesis (Walster, 1966) is based on the assumption that people tend to pair up with partners who are of roughly the same level of attractiveness as they are

• The matching hypothesis is a cognitive mechanism that uses self-rating and rating of others based solely on physical appearance, e.g., ‘I think I rate as a level 7 out of 10, so I’m looking for another 7, ideally an 8, but I may have to settle for a 6’

• The matching hypothesis revolves around ideas as to self-worth and self-esteem, i.e., if your partner is deemed to be ‘ugly’, then this will affect your social standing but if your partner is a ‘looker’, then your social status will rise; either outcome will affect how you view yourself (as worthy or not worthy)

• There is a fine balancing act involved in the matching hypothesis

  • Someone must weigh up their chances of aiming for someone ‘out of their league’ and risk rejection, or ‘settle’ for a partner who is less attractive than them

Research which investigates physical attractiveness

• Aharon et al. (2001) -  fMRI scans showed that dopamine-rich areas of the brain are activated when males are shown pictures of beautiful female faces 

• Cunningham (1986) - baby-faced female features (small nose, large eyes, small chin, large smile) were positively correlated with levels of attractiveness by males who also demonstrated a higher tendency to to perform acts of prosocial behaviour towards these attractive females

• Dion et al. (1972) -  participants consistently rated photos of attractive people more favourably than less attractive people; the attractive people were imbued with positive qualities and life outcomes such as marital happiness and career success

• Walster et al. (1966) -  the researchers found no support for their hypothesis that people will only date those of a similar level of attraction: the best predictor of someone being asked out on a date is how attractive that person is, regardless of the level of attraction of the person asking them

Evaluation of factors affecting attraction: Physical attractiveness

Strengths

• Feingold’s (1998) meta-analysis of research on the matching hypothesis, using actual couples, found that partners tended to be equally attractive

  • This finding increases the external validity of the theory, as it can be seen in operation in real life

• There is some predictive validity in the halo effect

  • Landy & Sigall (1975) found that essays written by attractive schoolchildren were graded higher than those written by unattractive schoolchildren

Limitations

• Taylor et al. (2011) investigated the matching hypothesis using the activity logs of an online dating site, which revealed that people do not necessarily apply the matching hypothesis when it comes to dating decisions, professing a preference for the most attractive males/females on the site

• Notions of ‘what is attractive?’ are highly subjective and prone to individual differences, which means that associated theories lack scientific validity

Issues & Debates

• Theories like the halo effect and babyface hypothesis are culturally biased, as they are often based on Western ideals of beauty which may not apply to collectivist or non-Western cultures

  • E.g., Cunningham’s (1986) research used American males—this risks an ethnocentric view of attractiveness and could lead to imposed etics if applied universally

• Theories and research into attractiveness often reflect male perspectives, focusing on how men rate women’s looks

  • This can lead to alpha bias, where traditional gender stereotypes are reinforced (e.g., women are valued more for appearance than personality)

  • Female experiences and preferences are less often explored, which limits the validity of these theories