View Attractive Female(s)

1. Beauty As A Social Problem Perception of attractiveness level of subsequent images of females View Attractive Female(s) • Down • Contrast Effect • Adaptation Level (Helson) Frame of reference is affected by our past experience • Up • Outside relevant universe • Association of average female with attractive image (reinforcing effect)

2. Media Impact What images are most common on prime-time TV? Young, attractive, wealthy

4. Study 1: Procedure and Results? Charlie’s Angels Viewers Mean = 3.4 Control Groups Mean = 4.0

5. Study 2: Procedure and Results? Experimental Group (viewed picture of attractive female) Control Group (no picture viewed) Mean = 4.4 Mean = 3.5 Higher scores indicates less attractiveness

6. Study 3: Procedure and Results? Role of Informational Social Influence (confederate comments) Comments were negative for the highly attractive photos and positive for the less attractive ones

7. Overall Implications?

8. Consequences of Being Physically Attractive What is Beautiful is Good Procedure and Results?

10. Physical Attractiveness • Advantages: • Greater overall liking (bestpredictor of desire to date) • More desirable character traits (e.g., sensitive, warm, intelligent) • Higher income • Higher evaluation of work performance • More lenient treatment in the legal system • Better mental health • Matching Often different in physical attraction Short Length of relationship Couple is equal in physical attraction Long

11. Attractiveness as a Business • In 2002, 6.9 million spent on cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures in the U.S. --- a 22% increase from 1997 (American Society for Plastic Surgery, 2003) • Most common procedure (Botox injections) was performed 1.6 million times in 2002 • Across the world, the cosmetic industry makes 20 billion/year • Nearly 1 million adults wear braces (mostly to improves smiles) • 35 billion is spent on weight loss programs, diet foods, and health club membership per year in the U.S.

12. Schemas and Behavior Phone conversation with males Low Physical attractiveness of female described to males High Males gave positive impressions personality, were warmer, more friendly, and used more humor when talking to the “attractive” female Females did not know how they were described to males Females behavior, rated by listeners, was judged to be warmer, friendlier, and possess greater confidence when they were described to the male as “attractive” Snyder et al. (1977)

13. Attractive photo Positive Mood Average photo High Low Opposite-Sex Photos Same-Sex Photos (Kenrick et al., 1993)

14. Romantically linked Impression of man Strangers 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5 5.0 7.1 6.1 5.9 5.5 Low High Female’s attractiveness

15. Eating Lightly and Self-Presentation • Basic Premise: People are motivated to behave in ways to enhance their image • Females have greater number of eating disorders and dieting than males (emphasis on thin as attractive) “Undesirable” Male Equal intake of candy by males and females “Desirable” Male • Females ate significantly less food when interacting with a desirable male (Mori, et al., 1987)

16. Gender and the Personal Columns Males Females Offer Seek Offer Seek Money Job information Personality traits (e.g., sincerity) Money Status Career Young Physically attractive Physical attractiveness (Deaux & Hanna, 1984)

17. Gender Differences in Mate Preferences Men % Money spent % Monet spent Women 40 30 20 10 0 40 30 20 10 0 High Budget Low Budget Physical attractiveness Social status Physical attractiveness Social status (Li et al., 2002)

18. Gender Differences in Sexual Behavior % “yes” Females 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Males 0 Go to apartment Sexual invitation Go on a date

19. Thought Frequency As Pie Charts The relationship The relationship Men Women Sports Sex Sex Pets Men thrashing Going bald Food Things we shouldn’t have eaten Aging Career Having to pee Strange ear & nose hair growth Aging

20. Attitude similarity and attraction Attraction towardother person (range = 2-14) Byrne and Nelson (1965) asked to rate how much they liked a stranger after learning he agreed with varying proportions of their attitudes expressed on a questionnaire. (Higher numbers indication greater liking.) 13.00 12.00 11.00 10.00 9.00 8.00 7.00 6.00 As the graph shows, the greater the proportion of attitudes subjects shared with the stranger, the more subjects liked him .00 .20 .40 .60 .80 1.00 Proportion of similar attitudes held by other person

21. Why such a powerful effect of similarity? A) Cognitive Consistency (We like ourselves, therefore we like those who are like us) B) Social Comparison (validation of one's beliefs) C) Anticipate/Predict other's behavior (e.G., Likes/dislikes, interests) D) They will like us also (reciprocal)

22. Application of Similarity Theory Key Dimensions Used by eHarmony [http://www.eharmony.com/singles/servlet/about/dimensions] Stated goal: “eHarmony … creates compatible matches based on 29 dimensions scientifically proven to predict happier, healthier relationships” Core Traits --- Social Style (Character, Kindness, Dominance, Sociability, Autonomy, Adaptability): How do you relate to other people? Do you crave company, or prefer to be alone? Are you more comfortable leading, or do you prefer to go along with the group? Cognitive Mode (Intellect, Curiosity, Humor, Artistic Passion) How do you think about the world around you? Are you motivated by an insatiable curiosity about the world and events around you? Are you constantly looking for intellectual challenges? Do you find humor to be your favorite coping strategy when dealing with the world? Physicality (Energy – Physical, Passion – Sexual, Vitality & Security, Industry, Appearance). How do you relate physically with the world? How do you relate physically with yourself? Are you energetic, athletic and constantly in motion? Or are you more comfortable and happy walking than running?

23. Application of Similarity Theory (cont.) From eHarmony Relationship Skills (Communication Style, Emotion Management – Anger, Emotion Management – Mood, Conflict Resolution) The amount of effort and skill that you devote to making a relationship work are key elements of who you are, and what type of person you are most likely to succeed with in a relationship Values and Beliefs (Spirituality, Family Goals, Traditionalism, Ambition, Altruism). Values and Beliefs are at the center of most of our life experiences. How we feel about spirituality, religion, family and even politics for a enormous part of how we think about the world, and who we are going to be most comfortable sharing our lives with. Key Experiences (Family Background, Family Status, Education) All of your life experiences combine to affect who you are and how you relate to the world. Although many of the effects of these experiences are represented by the other Core Traits and Learned Attributes, the following components of the 29 Dimensions are considered separately as part of your Key Experiences in your compatibility profile

24. Repulsion Hypothesis Basic premise: Differences are disliked; perceived as threatening • “Lab” studies Avg. attraction score • Similar attitudes 5.5 • No information regarding attitudes 5.2 • Dissimilar attitudes 2.1 (less attraction) No difference Iowa Caucus Study (Democratic) Description of person Democrat No difference No party affiliation Republican Disliked

25. D S S D S D S S D D D D D S S D D D S D D D S D D S D Reject those who are dissimilar S S S S S S S S End result is that we are left with similar people to interact with

26. The motivational value of dissimilarity is various other theories in social psychology: • Balance Theory Imbalance is motivating • Congruity Theory Incongruity is motivating • Dissonance Theory Dissonance is motivating • Equity Theory Inequityis motivating Naturally discovering similarity/dissimilarity (rather than being given other’s attitudes is quite different Active search process

27. “No man or woman really knows what love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.” --- Mark Twain Love marriages Arranged marriages 90 80 70 60 50 40 0-1 1-2 2-5 5-10 10+ Years of marriage

28. Marriage, Health and Longevity Health & Longevity Happily married High Unhappily married Unmarried Low Men Women

29. Interpersonal Relationship --- Newer Approaches • Individual subjective reactions to cues in an interaction • Active search/detection process for cues Relationships • Timing and sequencing of cues (e.g., baking a cake example)

30. Interpersonal Relationship --- Newer Approaches (cont.) • Future possibilities • Strategies Thoughts about interpersonal interactions Evaluation of interaction as good, average, poor • Who is told? When they are told? • What is said? Why they are told? Narratives/stories about relationships • Difference in perceptions; memory for facts

31. Misattributions of Friendly Behavior Female Routine Conversation Viewed female as promiscuous; were attracted to the female; saw themselves as flirtatious and seductive Male Female Observers Viewed males as behaving in a sexual manner; females as promiscuous Male Sexual lens Interaction

32. Relationship Conflict --- Some Issues • Jealousy --- • Men Sexual infidelity (60%) • Women Emotional infidelity (83%) • Communication --- • Demand-withdraw interaction pattern(Females wish to discuss problems, men avoid/withdraw from such discussions) • Sex • Children • Money • Different expectations

33. Relationship-Enhancing and Distress-Maintaining Attributions Relationship-Enhancing Attribution Distress-Maintaining Attribution Positive Event My partner takes me out to an expensive dinner My partner is sweet and thoughtful My partner took me out to write the cost off on taxes Internal, stable, global External, unstable, specific Negative Event Something unexpected must have come up My partner is always uncaring and selfish My partner forgot my birthday External, unstable, specific Internal, stable, global