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    Physical attractiveness plays an important role in relationship formation according to societal views, but research provides a more nuanced perspective. Studies have found that women with a favorable waist-to-hip ratio and more symmetrical features are viewed as more attractive as these traits signal fertility and genetic fitness. However, the "halo effect" means people often make positive assumptions about others' personality traits solely based on physical attractiveness, which can influence outcomes in contexts like court cases. While physical attractiveness influences initial attraction, the "matching hypothesis" proposes people eventually partner with those of similar attractiveness levels as unrealistic aspirations will not lead to relationships.

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    Physical attractiveness plays an important role in relationship formation according to societal views, but research provides a more nuanced perspective. Studies have found that women with a favorable waist-to-hip ratio and more symmetrical features are viewed as more attractive as these traits signal fertility and genetic fitness. However, the "halo effect" means people often make positive assumptions about others' personality traits solely based on physical attractiveness, which can influence outcomes in contexts like court cases. While physical attractiveness influences initial attraction, the "matching hypothesis" proposes people eventually partner with those of similar attractiveness levels as unrealistic aspirations will not lead to relationships.

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    Physical attractiveness plays an important role in relationship formation according to societal views, but research provides a more nuanced perspective. Studies have found that women with a favorable waist-to-hip ratio and more symmetrical features are viewed as more attractive as these traits signal fertility and genetic fitness. However, the "halo effect" means people often make positive assumptions about others' personality traits solely based on physical attractiveness, which can influence outcomes in contexts like court cases. While physical attractiveness influences initial attraction, the "matching hypothesis" proposes people eventually partner with those of similar attractiveness levels as unrealistic aspirations will not lead to relationships.

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    Physical attractiveness plays an important role in relationship formation according to societal views, but research provides a more nuanced perspective. Studies have found that women with a favorable waist-to-hip ratio and more symmetrical features are viewed as more attractive as these traits signal fertility and genetic fitness. However, the "halo effect" means people often make positive assumptions about others' personality traits solely based on physical attractiveness, which can influence outcomes in contexts like court cases. While physical attractiveness influences initial attraction, the "matching hypothesis" proposes people eventually partner with those of similar attractiveness levels as unrealistic aspirations will not lead to relationships.

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    Physical attractiveness is viewed by society as one of the most important factors of

    relationship formation, but is this view supported by research?


    Physical appearance can be seen as a range of indicators of underlying characteristics.
    Women with a favourable waist to hip ratio are seen as attractive because they are
    perceived to be more fertile (Singh, 2002), people with more symmetrical features are seen
    to be more genetically fit.
    This is because our genes are designed to make us develop symmetrically, but diseases and
    infections during physical development can cause these small imperfections and
    asymmetries (Little and Jones, 2003).
    The halo effect is a cognitive bias (mental shortcut) which occurs when a person assumes
    that a person has positive traits in terms of personality and other features because they
    have a pleasing appearance.
    Dion, Berscheid and Walster (1972) asked participants to rate photographs of three
    strangers for a number of different categories including personality traits such as overall
    happiness and career success.
    When these results were compared to the physical attraction rating of each participant
    (from a rating of 100 students), the photographs which were rated the most physically
    attractive were also rated higher on the other positive traits.
    Walster et al proposed The Matching Hypothesis, that similar people end up together. The
    more physically desirable someone is, the more desirable they would expect their partner to
    be. An individual would often choose to date a partner of approximately their own
    attractiveness.
    The matching hypothesis (Walster et al., 1966) suggests that people realise at a young age
    that not everybody can form relationships with the most attractive people, so it is important
    to evaluate their own attractiveness and from this, partners which are the most attainable.
    If a person always went for people “out of their league” in terms of physical attractiveness,
    they may never find a partner which would evolutionarily foolish. This identification of those
    who have a similar level of attraction, and therefore provide a balance between the level of
    competition (intra-sexual) and positive traits is referred to as matching.
    Modern dating in society is increasingly visual, with the rise of online dating, particularly
    using apps such as Tinder.
    In Dion et al.’s (1972) study, those who were rated to be the most physically attractive were
    not rated highly on the statement “Would be a good parent” which could be seen to
    contradict theories about inter and intra-sexual selection.
    Landy and Aronson (1969) show how the halo effect occurs in other contexts. They found
    that when victims of crime were perceived to be more attractive, defendants in court cases
    were more likely to be given longer sentences by a simulated jury. When the defendants
    were unattractive, they were more likely to be sentenced by the jury, which supports the
    idea that we generalise physical attractiveness as an indicator of other, less visual traits such
    as trustworthiness.
    Feingold (1988) conducted a meta-analysis of 17 studies and found a significant correlation
    between the perceived attractiveness of actual partners rated by independent participants.
    Individual differences – Towhey et al found that some people are less sensitive to physical
    attractiveness when making judgements of personality and likeability – The effects of
    physical attractiveness can be moderated by other factors and is not significant.

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