Running head: PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE

Likeness Goes With Liking: Determinants of Similar Physical Appearance Attractiveness and Affecting Factors on Mate Choice Preferences

I Wen Cheng Department of Finance National Chengchi University

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE Abstract

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The present study attempted to determine whether people tend to match themselves with those with homogamy of physical appearance, whether couples grow physically similar in their facial appearance with each other after a long period of time and how multiple possible factors affect mate choice decision in Taiwan. Questionnaires were most distributed to National Chengchi University students aged 18-25 through the Internet and social network, including Facebook and emails. Respondents (n=60) completed the survey with 38 respondents in single relationship and 22 in a relationship or married. The study uses the statistical techniques to measure similarity of physical appearance among couples and growing physical similarity in their facial appearance based on a scale 1-5. Statistical techniques including of arithmetic mean and standard deviation are also applied to examine eight possible factors that may affect human mate choice. Factors analyzed include physical attractiveness, appearance similarity, personality traits, educational level, vocation/occupation, social status, habits & costumes and family influence. Overall, the results indicate that personality traits and habits & costumes are considered as the main influencing factors instead of physical appearance similarity. However, the result of this study does not support the phenomenon that people tend to choose mates with similar physical appearance and there is no significance of convergence in the physical appearance of spouses after a period of time.

Keywords: Similar Physical Appearance, Mate Choice, Convergent Appearance

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaIntroduction

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aaaaaPhysical attractiveness has a substantial impact on individual lives. Movies, commercials and fitness centers repeatedly reinforce the importance of looking good and keeping fit. Moreover, as the English language makes obvious, “likeness goes with liking.” Similarity, whether actual or perceived, is one of the most important variables in all social psychology, influencing interpersonal processes from persuasion to prejudice and from grouping to mate choice. “Birds of a feather flock together.” As the old proverb says, people of similar characteristics, background, or taste tend to associate with each other or congregate in groups, choose someone similar to oneself as a mate and therefore, and match themselves with those with homogamy of physical attractiveness. aaaaaStudies have shown the possible factors affecting human mate choice including age, physical appearance, characteristics, education level, race, religion and ethnic background. Research done by David M. Buss (1985) ranked the characteristics commonly sought in a mate preferred by males and females, respectively. Personality traits of kindness and understanding and intelligence were the number one and two ranked mate choice factors both for males and females, following by physical attractiveness, exciting personality and good health. aaaaaAmong those possible affecting factors, several researchers have examined the determinants of physical appearance and features in human mate choice. Body shape has been found to be an important stable determinant of attractiveness. Women preferred men exhibiting V-shaped bodies and upper body strength enhancement, and on the other hand, men favored women with hourglass figures (Lavrakas, 1975; Franzoi & Herzog, 1987; Gitter, 1983). Obesity, on the contrary, has been found to decrease attractiveness by Clayson and Klassen (1989). Height was also shown to be a determinant of attractiveness. Men found shorter women more attractive and more desirable as dates, whereas women preferred to date taller men (Shepperd & Strathman, 1989). Besides, overall facial attractiveness was found to correlate positively with attractiveness. Study investigated into U.S. college students of both

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE

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genders by Mehrabian and Blum (1997) even showed that facial, compared with other physical factors, was a superior determinant of overall attractiveness. aaaaaLiterature and empirical evidence show that homogamy is the dominant factor of mate selection among Americans and there are a number of empirical evidence supporting the argument. Berscheid, Dion, Walster, and Walster (1971) have reported a direct relationship between a person’s attractiveness and the attractiveness of a prospective date. Daters preferred to be matched with someone with a similar degree of physical attractiveness rather than a maximally attractive partner. Study designed by Terry and Macklin (1977) also pointed out that research participants could accurately match photographed partners and the matching process indeed reflected homogamy of physical attractiveness. Moreover, the tendency to choose someone similar to oneself as a mate is so pervasive that the term “assortative mating” was proposed by Thiessen (1980). A general conclusion that can be drawn from the previous literature review is that marital partners tend to match themselves on the basis of homogamy of physical attractiveness. aaaaaAnother phenomenon, convergence in the physical appearance of spouses, has received some attention in the literature. Zajonc, Adelmann, Murphy and Niedenthal (1987), for example, used 24 photographs of men and 24 of women, as instruments to require respondents to judge their resemblance to each other. The study attempted to determine the increase in apparent similarity after a long period of time. Those photographs were actually those of the partners of 12 married couples. Half of the photographs were actually were taken at the time of the men’s and women’s wedding, and half were taken 25 years later. The judgments have been made on the basis of facial features alone. The result showed that spouses’ resemblance to each other is greater after 25 years of marriage and it indicated that couples live with each other for a long period of time grow physically similar in their facial features. aaaaaSeveral researchers have examined factors that may affect the mate choice and empirical evidences support that homogamy of physical attractiveness is an important determinant.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE

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Phenomenon found also indicates the convergence in the physical appearance of spouses does exist. Factors and phenomena found by western scholars, however, are less persuasive to be applied to the current situation in Taiwan. First, from Mehrabian and Blum’s study in 1997, they drew the limitation that “the participant sample used in the study can be applied only with some confidence to the young people adult segment of the U.S. population.” It further indicates that some phenomenon may only exist in American society and some Asian values are not taken into consideration in previous studies. Second, there have been few studies measuring repodents’ personal perception and observation on the homogamy of physical attractiveness. Third, relatively less attention has been paid to people’s actual experience about convergence in the physical appearance of spouses. The present study extends prior research by examining the multiple possible affecting factors in mate choice in Taiwan, measuring people’s observation on the homogamy of physical attractiveness and determining couples’ actual experience on convergence in the physical appearance of each other. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaMethod Design aaaaaStudies show that marital partners tend to match themselves with those with homogamy of physical attractiveness and also indicate that there is a growing convergence in the facial features for spouses who live with each other for a long period of time. Questionnaires assessing homogamy of physical attractiveness, convergence in facial features and eight possible factors are designed to examine the existence of the phenonemon and determinate factors affecting people’s mate choice. The survey consists of three sets: personal dating status, evaluation of physical similarity and factors affecting mate choice. The first set requested individuals to give personal background information including of his/her age, relationship status and love experience. The second set is specified as examining the determinants of similar physical appearance and couple faces phenomena according to respondents’ experience and opinion. The third set requires respondents to use a 1-5 scale to measure factors that may

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE affect their mate choice preferences. Participants

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aaaaaA total of 60 respondents volunteered to participate in the study and filled in the questionnaires. In order to conduct effective investigations and comparison, 60 results were grouped and categorized based on respondents’ relationship status and love experience. Among 60 samples, 38 respondents were expressed in single relationship status, which accounted for 63 per cent, and 22 of them were in a relationship or married, accounting for 37 per cent. Moreover, 36 respondents repotede they had love experience and 24 of them did not have love experience. Materials aaaaaIn the second set of questionnaire, respondents are required to use 1-5 scale to measure five narrative sentences presenting similar physical appearance and couple faces phenomena. The first question with statement that people tend to select those who have highly similar physical appearance to them is given to examine the respondents’ opinion toward the phenomenon. A following sentence saying that respondents’ friends are inclined to choose mates with similar physical appearance examines respondents’ observations on the phenomenon existing around them. Next, three sentences regarding respondents’ personal experience were presented to reflect the actual experience of similar physical appearance when choosing mates and whether the convergence in appearance for couples who had been in relationships to each other in a period of time existed or not. Procedure aaaaaQuestionnaires were mostly distributed to college and graduate students studying for their bachelor or master degree in Taiwan (R.O.C.) through the Internet and social networks, including Facebook and emails from December 19, 2012 to December 29, 2012. Respondents were required to answer each of the questions in the survey before they submit the result. There was an exception for those who without the love experience. For this group of people,

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE

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they need not answer the fourth and fifth question in the second set related to their actual love experience but they still need to complete all the other questions listed on the questionnaire. Considering the privacy protection problem, the respondents anonymously complete the questionnaires. Overall, 60 results are effective questionnaires and therefore, each of the questionnaire is valid for the study. All the results were tested using a statistical technique including arithmetic mean and standard deviation. Arithmetic mean is applied to measure the central tendency of each variable. Standard deviation, following with the arithmetic mean, shows the dispersion existing for each variable to deviate from the average. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaResults aaaaaThe data collected from the questionnaire were first analyzed to determine whether there was a significant difference between couples and singles, people with love experience and those without love experience. Respondents’ current marital and relationship status is shown on Figure 1, which indicates that more than half of respondents are not in a relationship and only 22 respondents are in a relationship. To determine the effectiveness of the survey, data about respondents’ love experience have been shown on the Figure 2, presenting more than 50 per cent of them have love experience and indicating an effective sample group for the study.

Figure 1. Respondents’ current relationship status

Figure 2. Respondents’ love experience

To shed light on the phenomena of physical appearance similarity on mate choice and increasing appearance similarity, the arithmetic mean and standard deviation for all

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE

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respondents are presented on Table1. On a scale ranging from 1 to 5, from strongly disagree to strongly agree, the means are 3.1 and 3, respectively, for the statement that people tend to select those who have highly similar physical appearance to them and respondents’ couples friends inclined to choose mates with similar physical appearance. The scores indicate that people neither agree or disagree with the phenomena for people to choose mates with similar physical appearance. Moreover, the mean for respondents’ personal experience in choosing similar physical appearance is 2.48, indicating that respondents disagree with the statement that similar physical appearance may be the determinant factor in mate choice. The mean for the following question of couples’ actual experience of physical appearance is 2.85, which shows that this is not common phenomenon according to respondents’ experience. The average score for the convergence in appearance for couples in relationships to each other in a period of time is 3.14, showing this convergent effect is not significant. Table 1.
Common phenomena or not Mean 3.1 SD 0.87

Scores for similarity attractiveness and increasing similarity
Observation among friends Mean 3 SD 0.82 Choosing similar appearance mates Mean 2.48 SD 1.13 Couple faces experience Mean 2.85 SD 1.41 Couple faces increasing Mean 3.14 SD 1.16

To compare the different attitudes and experience held by different groups of people, respondents are categorized into two groups based on their current relationship status and love experience. The significant differences between couples and singles groups are shown on Figure 3 and so are the groups with and without love experience presented on Figure 4. For the groups of couples and those with love experience, the means, 3.71 and 3.06 for their similar physical appearance experience, respectively, are notably high, compared to means, 2.12 and 2.25, for the opposite groups. Moreover, the mean, 3.48, for couples is much higher in comparison with 2.83 for singles, proving the convergent appearance for couples in relationships in a period of time. The similar tendency has also been shown for the groups with

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE and without love experience with means of 3.24 and 2.80, respectively.

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Figure 3. Couples and Singles Comparison

Figure 4. With or Without Experience Comparison

In order to examine and measure how the factors may affect mate choice, mean and standard deviation for eight factors: Physical attractiveness, Appearance similarity, Personality traits, Educational level, Vocation/Occupation, Social status, Habits & costumes and Family influence are measured for all the 60 results. Table 2 ranks the possible affecting factors from the lowest to highest based on the mean. Factor of personality traits has the highest score of 4.73, following by habits and costumes, 4.38, and finally the educational level and family influence, with 3.82 and 3.77, respectively. Appearance similarity, on the contrary, has the lowest mean of 2.40, indicating that it may have impact on human mate choice. The data has been displayed on the radar chart on Figure 5, giving the comparison of eight affecting factors and showing the significant differences between them. The finding may suggest that the personality traits and habits & costumes are considered as the main affecting factors when human make mate choice decision. In conclusion, liking may go with likeness but the likeness may refer to the similarity of characteristics and habits or costumes, instead of physical appearance similarity.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE Table 2. Ranking of eight possible factors

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Mean Personality traits Habits and costumes Educational level Family influence Physical attractiveness Vocation/Occupation Social status Appearance similarity 4.73 4.38 3.82 3.77 3.65 3.65 3.48 2.40

SD 0.48 0.69 0.96 0.96 0.83 0.98 0.96 1.08

Figure 5. Multiple Possible Affecting Factors in Mate Choice

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE Discussion

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Studies done by David M. Buss (1985) ranked personality traits of kindness and understanding and intelligence as dominant factors in mate choice, then following by physical attractiveness. The highly significant result of this study is consistent with previous study, showing that personality traits and habits & costumes are the main affecting factors when human make mate choosing decision. Physical appearance attractiveness, however, is not as important as what David M. Buss previously presented this. aaaaaEmpirical evidences and studies suggest that people tend to choose a mate with a similar degree of physical appearance and homogamy in physical appearance was regarded as a crucial determinant in mate choosing. The result of this study shows that people hold a middle position toward the phenomena that people choose mates with similar physical appearance. However, there is a significant difference under different categories. The finding may suggest that couples and those with love experience compared to the other two groups may hold different opinions toward it. Another phenomenon, convergence in the physical appearance of spouses after a period of time, has also been examined via this study. Results from 60 respondents did not strongly support the statement but still showed popular agreement on it. To look deeper into it, for the groups of couples and those with love experience, they strongly agree with the phenomenon that the convergent appearance for couples in relationships after a period of time does exist based on their own experience. In light of this, it can be argued that people with different relationship status may hold completely different points of view. Therefore, the average scores and results drawn from the 60 respondents may not be applied to all human beings since they may be in different relationship status. aaaaaThe study, however, is constrained to a number of limitations, all of which may suggest directions for future research. The first limitation is that when determining the affecting level of possible factors and examining phenomenon existence, the result was measured by one’s

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE

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subjective judgment on statements instead of objective measurement tools. It may lead to information distortion and data manipulation, and therefore, it cannot reflect the respondents’ real values. Objective mechanisms such as photographs identifying and matching may be taken into account for further study. Second, the sample size of 60 respondents is too small to produce a conclusive conclusion and the result drawn by the study may not be persuasive enough to conceive people. As a result, small sample size is still the first concern for the study, which should be considered first for further research. A third limitation is the validity of survey respondents according to their relationship status. 38 of the respondents in the sample filled the relationship status item with single, which may indicate that more than half from the sample group may not have reference value. Before making further studies on it, these limitations should be taken into consideration.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE References

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Berscheid, E., Dion, K., Walster, E., & Walster, G. W. (1971). Physical attractiveness and dating choice: A test of the matching hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 7, 173-181 Buss, D. M. (1985). Human Mate Selection. American Scientist, 73, 47-51. Clayson, D. E., & Klassen, M. L. (1989). Perception of attractiveness by obesity and hair color. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 28, 199-202. Franzoi, S. L., & Herzog, M. E. (1987). Judging physical attractiveness: Why body aspects do we use? . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 19-33. Gitter, A. G., Lomranz, J., Saxe, L., & Bar-Tal, Y. (1983). Perceptions of female physique characteristics by American and Israeli students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 121, 7-13. Lavrakas, P. J. (1975). Female preferences for male physiques. Journal of Research in Personality, 9, 324-334. Mehrabian, A., & Blum, J. S. (1997). Physical Appearance, Attractiveness, and the Mediating Role of Emotions. Current Psychology, 16, 20-42. Shepperd, J. A., & Strathman, A. J. (1989). Attractiveness and height: The role of stature in dating preference, frequency of dating, and perceptions of attractiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 617-627. Terry, R. L., & Davis, J. S. (1976). Components of facial attractiveness. Perceptual and Motor Skills(42), 918. Terry, R. L., & Macklin, E. (1977). Accuracy of Identifying Married Couples on the Basis of Similarity of Attractiveness. Journal of Psychology, 97(1), 15-20. Thiessen, D. D. (1979). Biological trends in behavior genetics. Theoretical advances in behavior genetics. Zajonc, R. B., Adelmann, P. K., Murphy, S. T., & Niedenthal, P. M. (1987). Convergence in

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE the Physical Appearance of Spouses. Motivation and Emotion, 11(4).

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PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE Appendix A. Survey Question

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伴侶選擇可能影響因素及伴侶選擇外貌相似度探討
同學您好！我是目前就讀政治大學財務管理系三年級的鄭亦雯，因修習學術報告寫作的課程，此次主題為伴侶選擇可能影響因素及 伴侶選擇外貌相似度探討。這份問卷用途僅限於學術研究寫作，至於涉及個人隱私的部分，我們會妥善保管問卷並保護您的隱私。 您的回答將對我們的研究有莫大的幫助，希望您能騰出寶貴時間填寫問卷，感謝您的配合！ * Required

一、個人背景資訊

1.請問你目前的年紀? *

   

12 歲以下 12-18 歲(國.高中生) 18-25 歲(大學生.研究生) 25 歲以上

2.請問你目前的感情狀況? *

   

單身 有男/女朋友 已婚

Other:

3.請問你有無男女朋友交往的經驗? *

  

有 無

Other:

二、伴侶選擇外貌相似度探討

1.你是否同意人們傾向於選擇與自己外貌相似度高的伴侶? *

1 極不同意
高的伴侶? *

2

3

4

5 強烈同意
2.你是否同意你身邊的情侶朋友有傾向於選擇與自己外貌相似度

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE 1 極不同意 2 3 4 5 強烈同意

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3.根據你目前/過往的戀愛經驗，你是否會選擇與自己外貌相似度高的伴侶? *

1 未曾

2

3

4

5 時常

4.根據你目前/過往的戀愛經驗，是否曾有人提及你與你的伴侶外貌相似(即夫妻臉)?無相關經驗者可跳答本題

1 未曾

2

3

4

5 時常

5.根據你目前/過往的戀愛經驗，男女朋友或伴侶關係是否會提高彼此外貌相似度?無相關經驗者可跳答本題

1 未曾

2

3

4

5 時常

三、伴侶選擇可能影響因素

下列因素影響你男/女朋友、伴侶選擇的程度 *1:表不具影響 2:表稍具影響 3:表可能影響 4:表頗具影響 5:表極具影響

1 美貌程度或吸引力 與自己外貌相似度 人格特質 教育程度 職業工作 社經地位 生活習慣 家庭因素

2

3

4

5

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE Appendix B. Scores for similarity attractiveness and increasing similarity
Common phenomena or not Mean Total 3.1 SD 0.87 Observation among friends Mean 3 SD 0.82 Apperance similarity choosing Mean 2.48 SD 1.13 Couple face experience Mean 2.85 SD 1.41

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Couple face increasing Mean 3.14 SD 1.16

Couples Single

3.00 3.16

0.85 0.87

2.68 3.18

0.87 0.72

2.45 2.50

1.03 1.19

3.71 2.12

1.24 1.11

3.48 2.83

1.10 1.13

With love experience Without love experience

3.00 3.25

0.78 0.97

2.92 3.13

0.86 0.73

2.50 2.46

1.04 1.26

3.06 2.25

1.45 1.09

3.24 2.80

1.11 1.25

Running head: PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND FACTORS ON MATE CHOICE
Appendix C. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation for the possible affecting factors

Physical attractiveness Mean Total 3.65 SD 0.83

Appearance similarity Mean 2.40 SD 1.08

Personality traits Mean 4.73 SD 0.48

Educational level Mean 3.82 SD 0.96

Vocation/ Occupation Mean 3.65 SD 0.98 Social status Mean 3.48 SD 0.96

Habits and costumes Mean 4.38 SD 0.69

Family influence Mean 3.77 SD 0.96

Couples Single

3.55 3.71

0.99 0.72

2.23 2.50

1.17 1.02

4.59 4.82

0.49 0.45

3.91 3.76

0.95 0.96

3.64 3.66

0.93 1.01

3.45 3.50

1.03 0.91

4.32 4.42

0.70 0.67

3.73 3.79

0.86 1.00

With love experience Without love experience

3.56 3.79

0.86 0.76

2.28 2.58

1.15 0.95

4.64 4.88

0.54 0.33

3.78 3.88

0.95 0.97

3.61 3.71

0.98 0.98

3.33 3.71

0.97 0.89

4.33 4.46

0.78 0.50

3.69 3.88

0.94 0.97