Outline and Evaluate Physical Attractiveness Including Matching Hypothesis as a Factor Affecting Attraction PDF

Preview

Summary

ESSAY ON MATCHING HYPOTHESIS AS A FACT AFFECTING ATTRACTION...

Description

Outline and Evaluate Physical Attractiveness Including Matching Hypothesis as a Factor Affecting Attraction Typically, we look for partners who have a symmetrical face, regardless of their gender. However, there are some key differences in what men and women look for. Men often look for a hip to waist ratio of 0.7, a young face (big eyes, cheekbones, etc.), a healthy complexion, a small nose and big lips. On the other hand, women look for facial features that are defined, smaller eyes, shoulders that are broader than the hips and a taller individual. In addition to looking for these features, Walster suggests we choose romantic partners who are roughly of a similar physical attractiveness to ourselves. To do this we would have to make a judgement about ourselves and then select the best candidates who would most likely be attracted to us. This maximises the chance of success. This is called the matching hypothesis. His theory is contradicted by his own research, in which he advertised a computer dance for students. When the participants arrived, four independent judges rated their physical attractiveness. Then the participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire, which provided data about similarity. Participants were paired up randomly with each other, and then asked to complete a questionnaire about their partner, during the dance. The more physically attractive students were more liked by their partners than the less attractive students. The study shows attractiveness to be the most important factor, and was the best predictor of the likelihood that the pairings would see each other again. This contradicts the matching hypothesis, yet provides vital information on the role that physical attractiveness plays in attraction. However, in a further study, Walster and Walster found evidence that supported the matching hypotheses. This time participants met before the dance, and were given a chance to choose their partners. This showed evidence of participants choosing someone who matched their own perceived physical attractiveness. The mixture of results suggests unreliability in the matching hypothesis, as evidence does not strongly correlate to one result or another. This could be explained by the gender bias in the hypothesis. It is assumed that men and women are very similar in their view of physical attractiveness. Meltzer found that men rate long term relationships as more successful when their partner is more physically attractive, but women’s satisfaction is not affected by levels of attraction. This suggests that there are significant gender differences in how important appearance is, in attraction. Thus, if physical attractiveness plays a bigger role in the relationship satisfaction, for men, women may experience more pressure to maintain their looks in order to maintain their relationship....