Matching Hypothesis?

Question

Do people really pair up with partners who are at the same level of attractiveness as themselves? Are you more/less attractive than your partner (if you have one) or are you equal?

Answer 1

People who become romantic partners tend to have a similar level of physical attractiveness. This also tends to be true about normal friends.
This does not work when one person has particularly low self-esteem. If I don’t like myself, then I won’t like other people who are like me. Also, in times of uncertainty, we may prefer someone different who is more likely to be able to handle the uncertainty.
Look at the romantic partners you know--are they generally of similar physical attractiveness? Chances are that the majority will be.
If your level of physical attractiveness is different from the person you want to partner with, take action! Dress differently. If you’re desperate, consider plastic surgery.
Look beyond attractiveness! Beauty is only skin deep. Find out those other things which are important before making any lasting commitments.

Answer 2

Matching Hypothesis

Answer 3

matching hypothysis.. is one of the theories in psychology that explains why people are attracted to one another. such research method included looking at fotos of many married couple and identifying common facial that each partner has. some research indicates positive findings. same theory applies to personality traits as well as physical appearance. However, i studied psychology for A-levels and i can contradict that theory in many ways. A general criticism that i would advice one to look at is that there are many other reasons why a person might find the other attractive e.g. the person might be famous, rich, popular charactaristics that the partner might not have. Alternative criticisms could be more direct, saying that actually people would prefer the opposite traits in a person to the ones they have. for example, a person might prefer more submissive person or more attractive or more intelligent than they are. A joke could express that idea. a masachosit would prefer always to be with a sadist and vice versa.

written by a business management student, studying in kings college london university

Answer 4

I think people make too much of looks in relationships. I have had a very good looking partner and another who was less 'attractive' than myself. The relationship with the 'better looking' man was not half as good as the relationship with the less 'attractive'. In fact I was more able to be myself when with the 'less attractive' man as he wasn't looking to see if other women were looking at him and that meant I felt more confident when with him.
I think equal intelligence is far more important.

Answer 5

Oooh! Hope this won't be made into a history or sociology text book in a hundred years time!
Neither my partner nor I are stereo-typically good looking, but we get our fair share of admirers none the less. No-one has ever told us if we look better separately or together.
I am Polish; he is Japanese.
He was the antithesis of what I always fell for, and I know he wasn't attracted to my looks initially.
But we have been married for 20 years now and have had no adultery. Have had frustrations.
Funny thing is, he wasn't my type physically and I only fell for him after being friends. I wasn't his type physically either. Yet everyone says we look really good together.

Answer 6

How do you rate attractiveness?
Most people have partners that they see as attractive. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, or you will have to come up with a universally accepted way of scientifically giving people a "attractive rating" that can be unbiasedly given to people.

Good luck.

Answer 7

Just look in the papers. Rich man, model arm candy. But in real life most people go for a partner with equal looks and outlooks. Makes life easier more balanced. Whereas I live with my opposite I am beautiful, sophisticated and all that, but my husband is a wuz, but kind

Answer 8

I did this in psychology 2 months ago and within psychology there are 5 different approaches! The approach that state that we choose a partner because they are of similar looks to us is called the biological approach. Psychologists that support this view do say that we do that! They also say that men go for women with big hips because they look good for child bearing! Also women go for men because we look like we are very fertile so that girls can have babies! So this approach is very interesting and yes there is evidence to suggest your question is true!