Social Psychology

Assignment 1

Contents
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder
Minahil Jamshaid

What attracts people to each other?

Mashal Rafiq

What are the factors that we look for judging the

attractiveness of a person?
Osama Nasir

What does the role of physical attractiveness play in

a) Professional Success
b) Social life/Relationships?
Hareem Sattar

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder is a mainstream phrase in communication. It is

frequently used to denote subjectivity in beauty. What I might find disgusting, you may find
beautiful. When we use the phrase, what we seem to be trying to say is that there should be a lot
of room for intelligent disagreement around aesthetics. We love flowers. We use flowers in our
romance, we gift bouquets to our friends on special occasions. Flowers let us share happiness
and good wishes with many, thanks to their beauty. We adore iconic beautiful actresses. From
Marilyn Monroe to Madhubala, they hold us spellbound with their hypnotic beauty but does the
flower know it is beautiful? Would these actresses have realized their own beauty if there were
no glass mirrors or if there was no audience publicity mirror?
Beauty is often equated with physical appearance, but beauty can not only be perceived with the
eyes but also felt with the heart. People today perceive beauty with physical attractiveness, one
might say that there are universal standards for someone to be considered as Beautiful but as
we look deeper into it we will find that what is perceived as beauty varies to some extent from
country to country. In America and Europe, slimness seems to be in vogue. There are hundreds of
Women's magazines that contain advertisements prompting weight loss. But if you travel to the
Middle East or India, that doesn't seem to be as true; They concentrate on lighter complexion and
have brands that elevate females to battle for a superior composition.

Sometimes people are beautiful.

Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.
- Markus Zusak, I am the Messenger
Considering someone beautiful is based upon your own experiences of what is beautiful and
what is not. Even different cultures have different perspectives of what makes someone
physically attractive or beautiful.

What attracts people to each other?

Humans are probably the most diverse of creations, reveling in their differences, which they
believe make every individual unique. However, the slightly perplexing phenomenon of
attraction is one that is common to every corner of the globe. Attraction refers to the action or
power of evoking interest in, or liking for someone or something. So what is it exactly that
attracts people to each other?
The first thing which comes to mind is the obvious physical attractiveness or beauty. Physical
beauty is often believed to dominate the process of attraction. It is the thought to be the gateway
to any new relationship (whether romantic, platonic or professional). Just like youd be more
tempted to buy a chocolate with a striking, more expensive looking wrapper, in the same way,
you are more likely to be more drawn towards a person who you perceive as physically
attractive. This predilection is not just a result of conscious thought, but a large part of the reason
behind it lies in the impenetrable niches of the subconscious. It is actually an evolutionary trait in
humans that leads to them finding "good looking" and "physically" fit people more attractive.
This is taken as a subconscious indication towards the possibility of better looking, healthier
offspring. (Knapton, 2015)
However, contrary to popular belief, beauty and attractiveness arent always interchangeable. A
myriad of other factors contribute to what makes someone attractive for another person. While a
considerable part of this is based on individual preferences, there are some general components
to attraction which is shared by majority of the people. Physical proximity and familiarity for
example are regarded as one of the most major aspects which influence what attracts people to
each other (the Mere Exposure Effect) (Exposure ). Attraction, for many, goes deeper that the
silver coating of physical beauty. It is in fact, more about how one person connects with the other
on an emotional level, developing an understanding due to having a similar mindset and
interests. It other words, people tend to be attracted to those who have traits that can
compliment their own self.
Attraction is an enigmatic concept, one that can not be divided into distinct categories. A plethora
of other factors like cultural influences, self esteem and confidence etc seem to affect how people
are attracted towards each other. However one thing that can be successfully inferred from this is
that the phenomenon of attraction is not confined to physical attractiveness only. Instead, it is a
delicately interwoven nexus of varying factors, coming together to form the complexity known

as attraction.
What are the factors that we look for judging the attractiveness of a person?
Robert Burton, an English scholar said if vanity is not our chief feature, it is at least our
secondary feature. The general idea of attractiveness is important to individuals from all
societies and attractive individuals are perceived all around as being alluring, all across the
world. This implies there is a quantifiable standard for beauty or attractiveness and what is found
generally as attractive. However, what precisely is it?
Physical attractiveness psychology
What features do most people consider attractive?
Symmetry: It was found that symmetrical faces are viewed as more appealing than nonsymmetrical faces over all societies. Your face doesn't need to be superbly symmetrical for it to
be alluring yet the more symmetrical it is the more appealing it will be considered by others.
Waist to hip ratio: Men turn out to be more pulled in to ladies with low midsection to hip
proportion or ladies who have the hourglass body shape. In a few societies where sustenance is
scarce a low midsection to hip proportion won't not be viewed as an appealing element.
Health: In all societies healthier individuals are viewed as a great deal, more alluring than less
healthier ones. Research has demonstrated that the healthier the individual is the better his looks
will be and the more alluring he will seem to be.
Height: Numerous studies uncovered that the greater part of ladies want to date men who are
taller than them however according to psychology, beauty is subjective depending on each
person's preferences and that is the reason you may discover numerous ladies dating shorter men.
At the end of the day these ideas may be universal beauty standards yet this doesn't imply that
you don't have a chance in the event that you didn't match them.
Feminine facial features: Men lean toward ladies who have female facial components over
other ladies. Ladies then again incline toward men with ladylike facial components when they
are not fertile and lean toward men who have more manly elements when they are fertile. So the
same lady can find a specific man alluring in certain days and less appealing on different days.

Built: Ladies lean toward well-built men (not necessarily body builders). Ladies lean toward
men who have more extensive shoulders and slimmer abdomens with insignificant tummy fat.
Jaws and cheek bones: Ladies favor men who have generally bigger jaws and more
conspicuous cheek bones since they both give a manlier look to the man.

What does the role of physical attractiveness play in professional success and social
life/relationships?
After analyzing the different criteria of attractiveness, its vital to evaluate precisely how our
looks may provide advantages or disadvantages throughout the many phases of our lives.
In terms of job prospects and the labor market, studies have suggested people who meet the
societys standards of beauty not only find employment, but they also earn higher incomes and
may find promotions more easily. It is also theorized that attractive people are simply thought of
as being more intellectually competent.
In a study where young children rated popularity among their peers, the unattractive kids were
less popular. Even teachers form a bias in favor of attractive students as the following results
from a study show, where the teachers were asked to evaluate their students in different criteria.

The results, shown in the table, confirmed that physical attractiveness did affect teachers
judgments in rating intelligence and social potentialan attractive student was estimated to have
higher values in all categories than an unattractive one.

In a group of friends, an attractive person will have more influence on and respect from the
others, and in one study, an opinion made by an attractive female was more likely to be agreed
upon than when made by a female less attractive. When making marriage choices, attractiveness
and education play important roles, but the degree of their importance are different between
genders.
Applying the implicit personality theory in the professional world, there are positive stereotypes
associated with attractive people such as stronger social competence, social skills, sexual
warmth, intellectual competence and mental health. There are also gender biases in the
workplace. For example, attractive females will face more obstacles if they pursue
stereotypically masculine jobs. This is because attractive women are viewed as possessing more
feminine traits, masculine traits are assumed to be a requisite in such jobs, and feminine women
are simply seen as being unsuitable for masculine jobs. This problem affects women more so
than men, because attractive men are seen as being capable of succeeding in either type of jobs.
Conclusion
There is without a doubt, a big role physical attractiveness plays in determining how a person is
treated; regardless of whether its in school, with a group of friends, or in the workplace, we
judge others, and unfortunately, our impressions are based on the easiest and most visible aspects
by looks and dress. These initial impressions will form our opinions of others competence,
capabilities, among many others, especially when we do not have much information about
others. More recent studies on the attractiveness bias have suggested a lower impact physical
looks plays, as more of us are made aware of the biass power, but the social inequalities and
consequences of attractiveness still play a big role in society, and it most likely will always affect
the way we see and think of others.

References
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Knapton, S. (2015, April 8). The science of sexiness: why some people are just more
attractive. The Telegraph. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/the-science-of-sexiness-why-somepeople-are-just-more-attractive/
(AMES, 2008)(Radwan)
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