Chapter 3: Attraction
Social Psychology by
Tom Gilovich, Dacher
Keltner, and Richard
Nisbett
What Influences Attraction?



Physical Attractiveness
Propinquity
Similarity
What Do We Find Attractive?

“Average” Faces
–

Composite faces are judged more attractive than
any individual face that comprises composite.
Symmetrical Faces
–
Deviations from symmetry often occur from
exposure to diseases in uteri.


What is “your” good side?
Female waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7
–
Regardless of weight
Physical Attractiveness

Some important conclusions from research
on physical attractiveness and attraction:
–
Though there are some features that are nearly universally-regarded
as attractive, there is considerable variability in what individuals find
attractive
–
Though we tend to like those people who are physically attractive,
the reverse is also true: We find people we like more attractive than
those we don’t like.
–
Happy couples tend to idealize each other’s physical attractiveness
–
Physical attractiveness is less stable than we think: some less
attractive young people get better looking with age, and some great
looking young people lose their ‘luster’ with age.
Impact of Physical Attractiveness

Attractive Individuals as compared to less
attractive individuals
–
–
–
–
–
–
Are more popular with members of opposite sex
May be graded easier
May earn more money
May get help easier
Are less likely to be convicted
Receive lighter sentences if convicted
Early Effects of Physical Attractiveness
• thought to be more
intelligent and better
behaved by teachers
• Held less accountable for
transgressions.
• Even infants show same
preference for attractiveness
8
7.5
Gazing Time
• Attractive infants receive
more affection and attention
from mothers
• Attractive children are
7
6.5
6
High Attractiveness
Low Attractiveness
5.5
Male and
Female Faces
Black Female
Faces
Baby Faces
Why Does Physical Attractiveness
Have Such Impact?
8
Impression of Stimulus Person
a. Immediacy
b. Prestige
• Sigall and Landy (1973)
c. Halo Effect
Belief that attractive
people also possess a
number of other desirable
characteristics
7
6
5
Attractive
Unattractive
4
Associated
Unassociated
Gender and the Impact of Physical
Attractiveness

Attractiveness plays more important role in
women’s lives than men’s lives.
–
Beauty functions as currency for women

Allows greater access to…
–
Social mobility
– Popularity
– Dating prospects
– Marriage opportunities
Evolutionary Theory

Primary motive is
reproductive success.
–
–
People who make bad mate
choices will have little
success.
Mate preferences should be
shaped by natural
selection.

We are instinctively
attracted to features
associated with
reproductive success

Parental Investment Theory
–
–
The sex that invests more
is more selective.
Females look for mate that
could



–
Provide resources
Was willing to invest
resources
Protect family
Males look for mate that

Had good reproductive
potential
–


Young and healthy
Would be faithful
Nuturing
Evolution and Long-Term Mate Choice
David Buss (1986)
–
–
Had college students
rank 13 traits on how
desirable they were in a
mate.
Both attractiveness and
earning capacity were
ranked lower than
kindness and intelligence
10
Males
9
Females
8
7
Importance

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Attractiveness
Earning Capacity
Buss’s Cross Cultural Study

Looked at rankings across 36
countries
–
–
–
Men ranked attractiveness higher
than women
Women ranked good financial
prospect higher than men
Women want to marry an older
mate while men want to marry
younger mate
Social Structure Theory (Eagly &
Wood, 1999)
Argue that differences found
by Buss can be explained by
social structure
–
–
–
In most countries, mean
control financial resources
Easiest way for women to
access these resources is
marry a man with them
Found that as women have
increased access to
resources, gender
differences in importance
ratings decreased.
2.5
Gender Differences in Ratings
Importance

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1
2
3
4
5
Gender Empowerment Index
Gender Differences in Jealousy
–

Found that males were
more physiologically
aroused when they
imagined partner having
sex with another man
compared to falling in love
with another man.
Christine Harris argued
mean are more aroused by
sex and would show same
pattern imagining fidelity as
infidelity.
9.00
Sexual Imagery
Emotional Imagery
8.00
7.00
Physiological Activity
Buss argued that men
should be more jealous of
sexual infidelity than women
since it is difficult to prove
paternity
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
-1.00
EDA
Pulse
rate
Brow
EMG
EDA
Males
10
Sexual Imagery
Pulse
rate
Brow
EMG
Females
Emotional Imagery
8
Physiological Activity

6
4
2
0
-2
SBP
DBP
HR
Infidelity
SBP
DBP
Fidelity
HR
Gender Differences in Short-Term Mating

Males are more
interested in short-term
mating than females.
–
Men and women are
equally interested in
long-term mating.
Males
6
5
4
3
2
1
Females
Short-term
20
Men
Women
15
10
5
m
o.
m
os
.
1
yr
2 .
yr
s.
3
yr
s.
4
yr
s.
5
yr
10 s.
yr
20 s.
yr
s
30 .
yr
s.
lif
e
0
6
Males are more
interested in having
more sex partners than
females.
1

Long-term
Gender Differences in Short-Term Mating
70
50
30
Male
Female
80
40
25
28
20
10
60
75
69
50 50
40
13
6
20
1
0
6
0
0
At least once A few times

100
% Yes
% go to spa
60
Male
Female
58
Regularly
Date
Apartment
Bed
Men do not need to know partner very long to have
sex.
Propinquity
1. Studies of
Propinquity and
Attraction
• Westwood West Study
(Festinger, Schachter, & Back,
1950)
--used a Sociometric Survey - a
survey that attempts to measure the
interpersonal relationships in a group of
people
--measured Functional Distance -
an architectural layout’s propensity to
encourage or inhibit certain activities, like
contact between people
Propinquity
• Manhattan Housing Project (Nahemow & Lawton,
1975)
• Zajonc studies
2. Explanations of Propinquity Effects
a. Availability and Propinquity
b. Anticipating Interaction
c. The Mere Exposure Effect
Similarity and Attraction
B. Similarity
1. Studies of Similarity and Attraction
• Whyte (1956) study of Chicago suburb layout
• Newcomb (1956, 1961)
• “Bogus Stranger” paradigm
Similarity and Attraction
2. Don’t Opposites Attract? Complementarity
• Most studies claiming to support complementarity have been
criticized on methodological grounds
• Similarity appears to be the rule, and complementarity, the
exception, in attraction
3. Why Does Similarity Promote Attraction?
a. Similar Others Validate Our Beliefs and Orientations
b. Similarity Facilitates Smooth Interactions
c. We Expect Similar Others to Like Us
d. Similar Others Have Qualities We Like
Attraction
D. Theoretical Integration
1. The Reward Perspective on Interpersonal
Attraction
2. The Social Exchange Perspective on
Physical Attraction
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
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