Attraction And Physical Attraction

In another study, Langlois and Roggaman (1990) took photos of faces and morphed them together to produce composite images made up of 4, 8, 16 or 32 images. Participants rated faces as increasingly attractive the more faces that went into each image; this applied to both male and female faces. The more faces in an image, the more symmetrical they become, it seems that moving a facial image closer to the average increases its perceived attractiveness. It is likely that symmetry equates to fitness and “good genes”, these people are less likely to have been affected by harmful mutation. People with attractive faces are preferred because of the benefits of passing on these attractive characteristics to offspring. Little & Hancock propose that humans have evolved to be attracted to symmetrical faces because they indicate “averageness”, which equates to genetic health. Grammar and Thornhill (1994) found that females are attracted to males with masculine characteristics, for example: large jaw and prominent cheekbones. These features arise as a result of testosterone, which is also a handicap because it suppresses the immune system. Therefore, showing only “healthy” individuals can afford to produce these traits- advertising a strong immune system. Cartwright (2000) supported this, finding men prefer photographs of women with symmetrical faces and vice versa.

Being physically attractive adds even more layers to the subjective mix. Is it blonde hair, fair skin blue eyes? Is it brown hair, dark eyes and a wonderfully tan physic the alpha trump card? Or could it be salt and pepper hair, emerald green eyes, and five o’clock shadow? See what I mean? This can

Extensive media sources, as well as literary sources, have been notorious for establishing a certain stereotype of an individual based on physical appearance. This image centers on ones weight, height, hair color, and overall physical beauty. It is reported that these particular attributes may affect ones personal career. No one knows quite why this is the case, but there have been several studies that involve these works, linking whether there is a direct correlation with these results or if it comes down to a discriminative nature. Among some of the most interesting studies, are the ones that deal with bias in the workplace. According to a journal from Labour Economics, Blonde women with no work experience earn 6%–9% less than their non-blonde counterparts (Dechter 2015). The findings show that blondes can have positive, as well as negative, effects in the workplace. The stronger negative effect of blonde hair color is commonly apparent in sales (Dechter 2015). This theory has proven to be true by the sheer presence of customer discrimination, thus showing a lack of blondes in the sales profession (Dechter 2015). “Both negative and positive preferences for blondeness are in line with the prejudices of the “blonde stereotype”, which attributes a series of positive and negative characteristics to young blonde women but not to young blonde men” (Dechter 2015). Based on a study in the UK in 2006, scientists analyzed 500 CEOs and discovered that blondes were very underrepresented compared to men and women with other hair colors (Dickinson 2012). A separate study done in 1996, concluded that after the subjects displayed headshots in their resume during a job interview, blondes were greatly undermined (Dickinson 2012). “Although all the resumes were identical, the blonde applicants were rated as less competent”

Taken directly from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, this definition states in clear, scientific terms what attraction is. However, as every human knows, the power of attraction goes far beyond this cut and dried statement, reaching deep into our psyche, as well into our past. In this paper, the processes of attraction, its evolutionary roots and modern day implications are studied, in an attempt to answer the question "what causes us to be attracted to someone"?

Literature on the topic of attractiveness is very extensive. The human face is something that catches every ones attention and more over the scientists as well the psychologists are interested in analyzing the ability of humans to extract information of the others. Several factors and features are associated with attractiveness. Some examples include facial symmetry, skin color, facial traits, clear skin and health of facial skin. It is hypothesized that facial symmetry is an important factors in measuring physical attractiveness. Different features may be perceived as attractive by different people.

“Familiarity Does Indeed Promote Attraction in Live Interaction,” by Reis et al., explores the issue of whether familiarity breeds attraction within individuals in live interaction. The study’s purpose was to explore if familiarity did in fact promote liking in live interaction. This study was exploratory, as it sought to find, through two experiments, whether or not attraction increased with the amount of familiarity the participants had with one another.

The Halo Effect is the cognitive bias that generalizes that if an individual has one outstanding favorable character trait, the rest of that individual’s trait will be favorable. Specific to physical attractiveness, this is known as the “Attractiveness Halo.” Attractiveness plays an important role in determining social interactions. In fact, the physical attractiveness of an individual is a vital social cue utilized by others to evaluate other aspects of that individual’s abilities (Kenealy, Frude, & Shaw, 2001). Because of the attractiveness halo, attractive applicants trying to enter the workforce tend to

Abstract The human race is a very interesting race. Hundreds and hundreds of years humans have made subtle features to each other, without being completely conscious to these types of gains. A lot of the time it has to do with the status of the person, or the physical attraction of the person.  Science of Sex Appeal

This next study, done by Addison in 1989, was performed in an effort to control for attractiveness of the individuals. They selected 114 undergraduate Psychology students, of which 59 were female and 44 were male. Their ages range from 18 to 24, with a mean age of 19. They had them look at 25 pictures from a recent college year book and rank them on six aspects on a ten point scale. These aspects were masculinity, aggressiveness, dominance, attractiveness, intelligence, and strength. Using the ratings that the participants did for attractiveness, the researchers found 8 of the pictures, four with facial hair and four without, that were equal on the attractiveness scale. This made the attractiveness of the males themselves equal, and so any of the variations between the two should be because of the differences in facial hair, not due to the differences in the men’s appearance. Using these eight males the researchers then were able to compare the other five characteristics between the men with and without facial hair. It was found that men with facial hair were seen as being more masculine, dominant, and having more strength with a p value for all of them of less than

In addition, an experiment by McClintock showed that women were attracted to the smell of a man who was genetically similar, but not too similar, to their fathers ((1)). Therefore, our genetic information might play a role in whether or not someone is desirable in order to avoid inbreeding or, on the other end of the spectrum, to avoid the loss of desirable gene combinations. Inevitably, however, it is our brain that processes another individual's appearance, lifestyle, how they relate to past individuals we have met, and, possibly, their pheromones. Then, based on this information, we decide, within our brain, whether or not this person is worth getting to know.

What makes us attracted to certain people more than others? The science of Psychology explains how people become attracted to one another. Certainly some aspects of beauty are cultural; fashion and trends change over time. Also, society and the media influence us into thinking what traits are attractive. Some reasons for attraction have to do with familiarity and proximity. Biology also plays a role in determining what traits we will possess. Biology and Psychology work hand and hand to help us pick our mates.

et al. ' s (2003) study, sex differences were reported: women judged eye makeup as contributing most to the attractiveness while men rated eye makeup and foundation as having a significant effect on attractiveness. Workman and Johnson (1991) reported that female participants rated attractiveness and femininity higher when targets were wearing cosmetics. However, no male participants were used in their study.

Proximity allows us to get to know a person more, for the exposure we had with them makes it less frightening to interact with them. Exposure increases attraction. However, when the initial interaction was unpleased, repeated exposure will not increase attention. Decrease on repeated exposure only happens when initial interaction was

In a study carried out by Byrne (1971) found that strangers with similar attitudes to participants were rated as being more physically attractive in comparison to participants which had dissimilar attitudes.

Charisma, charm and confidence. The fundamental building blocks of attraction. So many of us understand this, yet few understand HOW.