Despite well-meaning sayings such as “beauty is only skin deep” and most people’s expressed beliefs that physical attractiveness should not influence us in our interpersonal relationships, it does. In fact, physical attractiveness appears to influence first impressions more than any other variable. And although there are some elements of physical attractiveness, such as symmetry, that appear to be universally appealing, in general, evaluations of beauty are subjective. Different cultures have different standards of beauty, as well as people within the same culture. If we all had the same “type,” biological diversity would become nonexistent, and the world would be a very boring place.

Judgments of beauty tend to change over time and depend on how we feel about a person. While physical attractiveness most influences first impressions, when we are choosing more permanent partners, it declines in importance (Atkinson, 1996). People also tend to choose partners that roughly match them in physical attractiveness.

What is physical attractiveness? Social scientists believe that beauty is defined by social consensus (Berscheid & Walster, 1974). Physic

So do people tend to date others that look as equally attractive as themselves? By measuring peoples’ opinions of the differing attractiveness of individuals in a couple, I will attempt to find support for the question. I will ask randomly selected students to rate each person in the couple on a scale of 1, being least attractive, to 10, being most attractive. Then I will average the ratings of each person and compare their average to their dating partner to see if the scores are within one point of each other. My hypothesis is that evidence will be found to support the question because research shows that people

On the other hand, there is a familiar saying that “opposites attract.” This assumption, however, of the validity of complementarity, the tendency for one person in a couple to complete what is missing in the other, though widely held, remains unsupported the evidence. In fact, contrast between people may direct their attention to their own shortcomings, which breaks the social psychology principle of maintaining self-esteem and supporting a positive self-image.

Do People Date Others 5

Do People Date Others 4

usually date others that are similar to them in many other areas besides looks. It is known that people like to date others that are similar to their parents, and I think that would involve being s

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