#To be focused on pleasing another tv

There is good agreement among people, including children, and within and across cultures, about which people are most physically attractive (Berry, 2000 Ramsey, Langlois, Hoss, Rubenstein, & Griffin, 2004). These positive evaluations of and behavior toward attractive people likely relate to the belief that external attractiveness signifies positive internal qualities, which has been referred to as the what is beautiful is good stereotype (Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972).Īlthough it is sometimes said that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” (i.e., that each person has his or her own idea about what is beautiful), this is not completely true. For example, those judged more attractive on the basis of their online dating site photographs are also rated as having more positive profiles in terms of text content (Brand, Bonatsos, D’Orazio, & DeShong, 2012).Īttractive people also have more choices of sex partners (Epstein, Klinkenberg, Scandell, Faulkner, & Claus, 2007), are more likely to be offered jobs (Dubois & Pansu, 2004), and may even live longer (Henderson & Anglin, 2003). Similar patterns have been found in relation to online contexts. For instance, more attractive people are seen as more sociable, altruistic, and intelligent than their less attractive counterparts (Griffin & Langlois, 2006). People who are attractive are also seen as having a variety of positive characteristics, and these traits are activated quickly and spontaneously when we see their faces (Olson & Marshuetz, 2005 van Leeuwen & Macrae, 2004). Even infants who are only a year old prefer to look at faces that adults consider attractive rather than at unattractive faces (Langlois, Ritter, Roggman, & Vaughn, 1991).

#To be focused on pleasing another tv

Movies and TV shows often feature unusually attractive people, TV ads use attractive people to promote their products, and many people spend considerable amounts of money each year to make themselves look more attractive. Perhaps this finding doesn’t surprise you too much, given the importance of physical attractiveness in popular culture. None of the other characteristics-even the perceived intelligence of the partner-mattered. Walster and her colleagues found that the only important determinant of participants’ liking for their date was his or her physical attractiveness. Physical AttractivenessĪlthough it may seem inappropriate or shallow to admit it, and although it is certainly not the only determinant of liking, people are strongly influenced, at least in initial encounters, by the physical attractiveness of their partners (Swami & Furnham, 2008). Elaine Walster and her colleagues (Walster, Aronson, Abrahams, & Rottman, 1966) arranged a field study in which college boys and girls were randomly paired with one another at a “computer dance.” After the partners had danced and talked for a couple of hours, they were interviewed separately about their own preferences and characteristics as well as about their perceptions of their date. There is a large literature on the variables that lead us to like others in our initial interactions with them, and we’ll review the most important findings here (Sprecher, Wenzel, & Harvey, 2008). Although interpersonal attraction occurs between friends, family members, and other people in general, and although our analysis can apply to these relationships as well, our primary focus in this chapter will be on romantic attraction, whether in opposite-sex or same-sex relationships. When we say that we like or love someone, we are experiencing interpersonal attraction- the strength of our liking or loving for another person.

Explore the relationship between affect and attraction.Define the concept of mere exposure, and explain how proximity influences liking.Describe the ways that similarity and complementarity influence our liking for others.Outline the variables that lead us to perceive someone as physically attractive, and explain why physical attractiveness is so important in liking.Summarize the variables that lead to initial attraction between people.