Introduction Human beings are the most social of social animals and the desire to be liked and accepted is very strong. This desire is forged by interaction with others, which forms interpersonal attraction and judgement of beauty. There are several reasons that could explain why interpersonal attraction occurs in social settings. Repeated exposure to a certain stimulus, allows individuals to develop stronger impressions and greater familiarity towards the stimulus, promoting interpersonal attraction (Zajonc, 1968), while similarity between individuals enhances initial attraction (Vinacke, Shannon, Palazzo & Balsavage, 1988), and allows social validation (Byrne, 1971). Physical attractiveness, one of the most important determinants of interpersonal attraction is often seen as a sign of fertility, strength, or health (Buss, 1999; Thornhill, 1998). Physical attractiveness individuals has been shown to be treated preferentially and more positively to the extent that it influence outcomes of interpersonal interactions (Rhode, 2010), where attractive employees get paid with higher wages (Frieze, Olson & Russell, 1991), and attractive criminals were given lighter sentences (Stewart, 1980). This phenomenon could be explained by the “Halo Effect” (Nisbett, & Wilson, 1977), where evaluations of one attribute of a person are generalized to influence evaluations of other attributes.
In the landmark paper ‘‘What Is Beautiful Is Good,’’ written by Dion, Berscheid and Walster (1972)
The red condition rated women with red shirts, and the blue condition rated women with blue shirts. The dependent variables were attractiveness judgments, sexual attraction, and behavioral intentions. The dependent variables were operationalized because behavioral intentions were observed in regards to dating and willingness to spend money on a date. The researchers used photos from www.hotnornot.com, a web site designed to generate attractiveness judgments where individuals post photos of themselves, and others rate the attractiveness of the photo. For this experiment, a photo of the women was shown, where the women’s face and shirt were visible in color. The participants were then asked to rate the women based on the three dependent variables listed above. The independent variable was manipulated using Adobe Photoshop to change the color of the women’s shirt to blue or red. The men in the red condition rated the target women as more attractive, sexually desirable, and was willing to ask the women on a date and would spend more money on the women that the men in the blue condition. The color red has this effect because of the way it is portrayed in society and on nonhuman
In people’s perspective, attractiveness possess a wide variety of positive personal qualities compared to unattractive people. Result from the study on physical attractiveness stereotypes show the attractive people had the most positive ratings. For example, they are judged as less disturbed, rated as happier and more successful, and more likely to be hired after a job interview. Thus, the concept of attractiveness having a correlation between an individual’s physical appearance and his/her achievements, abilities, psychological well-being and/or other status characteristics to create a perception is
When researchers presented mock judicial cases paired with female faces that varied in attractiveness, they concluded that the less attractive defendants were convicted more often than attractive defendants (Darby & Jeffers, 1988). The faces rated as highly attractive were deemed less responsible for the crime they committed. The attractive faces were also rated as more likable, trustworthy and happy than the unattractive defendants. High attractive faces received less punitive punishments than faces that ranked lower on the attractiveness scale. Not only did this study evaluate defendant’s level of attractiveness, it also took into account attractiveness of the juror. When the juror was highly attractive, they were more inclined to convict an unattractive defendant. Jurors were likely to show preference to defendants whose attractiveness level was comparable to their own (Darby & Jeffers,
Within today’s multimedia society especially the evaluation of faces is of outstanding importance. An attractive face clearly finds more approval: a beautiful face activates the reward centre in the opposite’s brain and we generally link positive human characteristics with an attractive face (Rhodes, 2006). Systematic research in this area started at the beginning of the 1970’s. Dion, Berscheid and Walster, who were pioneers in this field, determined the relationship between positive characteristics and attractive faces and came up with the proposal ‘"what is beautiful is good" (Dion, Berscheid, Walster; 1972).
It is well-known that diversity is common amongst individuals as each varies in their physical appearances, personality, values and beliefs. A person’s individuality can be shaped through many factors such as cognitive process, biological process, psychological origins of attraction, social perspective attributions, etc. Cognitive origins of attraction is the acquiring and understanding of thoughts and senses and the perceptions of the individual’s own experiences. Biological process is the idea in which sexual attraction (for the purpose of gene survival) is the driving force behind choosing a partner (Charles Darwin). Psychological origins of attraction assumes that people are more likely to be attracted tit e individuals who are perceived to be similar to themselves. Social perspective attributions is the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behaviour in social situations. Due to these many factors, each decision an individual makes is different from that of another. This individuality is relied upon when a person chooses others to form a relationship with, including a romantic one. The following studies/research have been provided to explore whether the differences in gender and the types processes may have an effect on decision-making when multiple options are available.
The main goal in conducting the experiment of how attractiveness would vary based off of western and non-western faces was to see if race would make a difference in how a class of western dominant students perceived attractiveness. We hypothesized that since our participants were western dominant, the western faces would be rated higher than those of the non-western faces (consistent with Burke, Nolan, Hayward, Russell & Sulikowski, 2013; Todorov, 2012). The critical question that we would be trying to answer was whether or not race would matter in determining how attractive an individual is perceived to be. We went with the hypothesis of the western faces being voted more attractive was because in previous studies race was linked to how one would vote attractiveness of another individual. In addition, we also believed that since the participants of the experiment were primarily
The researchers in these two studies wanted to test the hypothesis that sexual attraction increases during states of high emotion, such as hate or aggression. The researcher used questionnaires containing pictures from the Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT) in the two studies. The questionnaires were given to forty different males by the same attractive female confederate. The female confederate distributed these questionnaires in two different settings; one was a highly emotional setting and the other was a minimal emotional setting. The two experiments that I will be discussing were designed to test the idea that an attractive female is seen as more attractive by males who encounter her while they experience a strong emotion, fear, than by
Experiments were even made to determine whether the attractiveness of someone impacts how they’re treated by strangers. The author, Keith Morrison, of Face Value Hidden Camera Investigation: Do Looks Really Matter? gives the reader his opinion saying, “Sometimes we attach too much importance on beauty” He bears the questions, “Does preference for physical attractiveness go deeper than romance? Are beautiful people treated better, at say a bank or at a doctor's office?” Those questions are answered by an experiment made by
Strangers will base their actions toward another person based on the first things they notice about that person, which most often includes a person’s looks. This proclivity is known as the “primacy effect”. “[The] primacy effect is the tendency to be influenced by what information we gather first…This information can be physical attractiveness…” (Hein 1). Although it is not certain as to why this effect is in place, it is certain that this effect is real and common in today’s society. This inclination for attractiveness to equal superior treatment follows over into areas of a person’s life that are not exclusively centered around recreational social interaction. For example, those who are universally thought of as being attractive “make 12 percent more money than those regarded as less good-looking” (Dobson 1). This shows that, yet again, beautiful people receive unjustified advantages from the unknowing people they interact with on a daily basis only because they are physically
The five factors that predict interpersonal relationships are: proximity, familiarity, similarity, physical appearance, and reciprocity. Proximity refers to the geographical location of persons. People are more likely to initiate, engage, or maintain relationships if someone’s geographical location is near or convenient to the person they are to pursue. Relationships, whether romantic or platonic, are not as likely to be initiated if the proximity does not allow individuals to cross paths or maintain a certain level of communication. As well, familiarity plays an important role in the fostering of relationships. People are said to have an increased attraction and fondness for individuals that they see more often than those they do not. In lay terms, similarity can be summed up by saying that people enjoy the presence of those like (or similar) to them. Individuals are more often drawn to and feel less intimidated by others that share their culture and belief systems; thus, are more likely to form relationships with them. Next, is physical attractiveness; which can be defined in two different ways. First off, people tend to believe that beautiful things equal good things and are more likely to seek out relationships with individuals they find beautiful. However, people are also likely to form relationships with people they believe to be on
The section of sources initial attraction has two sections and they are proximity and physical appearance. Out of the two sections, physical appearance caught my attention. Physical appearance is non-verbal cues that allow people to evaluate their relationships potential. Physical appearance is one of the largest impacts during a stage of relationships. Physical appearance can include skin color, body size and the way you dress. Physical appearance has a huge influence on the internet because people only have to look at your profile picture to determine if they are interested in you or not.
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
Critical Evaluationg of Psychological Theories of Interpersonal Attraction Interpersonal Attraction suggests as attraction between people, and although it may not in terms of a romantic relationship scenario as the phrase suggests, it nethertheless suggests an important attraction to create a relationship with a particular person. It may by that we are attracted to a particular person or a social relationship because we find them pleasant or because we find life alone unpleasant or unrewarding. Schacter (1959) conducted a study in which female participants were told that they were going to receive an electric shock in a following experiment. Half of the subjects were told it would be painful and
In order to understand how it can be beneficial, we must first test how. The test will determine on whether looks can change your life, and make your life a little easier. We already know that appearances matter in society but can we prove that there is a major difference between two categories of appearances? A helpful advisor that made this experiment more understandable was Dr. Gordon Patzer. He will be the one interpreting each experiment and sharing input in order for us readers to understand. Dr. Gordon is very experienced in physical attractiveness.
A few relationships tend to be based solely on their partner’s level of attractiveness. We determine how attractive someone is, “ the prejudice of deciding what to do based solely on outward appearance could cost the pursuer the chance of a meaningful relationship” (Modern Day Adages). Although someone is “better” looking doesn’t mean anything when it comes to their character and personality. An “average” person can be more beautiful on the inside than a “better” looking person. As a society, we need to give others the opportunity to show themselves even if they’re “average.”