Psychology Commons^™

Attraction Process Among Identified Sport Fans, Ciara Yvonne Cyr

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Since automatic attention is given to beauty, and appearance is the first thing noticed upon meeting a person, one would assume attractiveness is the more important selection factor for a relationship partner. Theories such as the matching hypothesis and mortality salience dispute this idea. The matching hypothesis proposes selection occurs between individuals similar in attractiveness, not necessarily selecting the most attractive individual available. Mortality salience suggests attractiveness is used in selecting a partner for short-term relationships, but discounts physical attractiveness for long-term relationships. This theory proposes an ideal partner for a long-term relationship is selected based on similarity of beliefs. …