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Physical Attractiveness

It’s no secret that many people feel drawn to those they perceive as physically attractive. In part this is because we view beautiful people as competent communicators, intelligent, and well-adjusted, a phenomenon known as the beautiful-is-good effect (Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani, & Longo, 1991). But although most of us find physical beauty attractive, we tend to form long-term romantic relationships with people we judge as similar to ourselves in physical attractiveness. This is known as matching (Feingold, 1988). Research documents that people don’t want to be paired with those they think are substantially “below” or “above” themselves in looks (White, 1980).