The Matching Hypothesis: Physical Attractiveness among Same-Sexed Friends

Abstract

Twenty-four male pairs and 24 female pairs of close friends were individually photographed and were independently and reliably rated on physical attractiveness by two judges. Actual friends were hypothesized to be significantly less discrepant on attractiveness than a control group contrived by randomly pairing the ratings within each same-sex sample. Results support this hypothesis for male friends (p < .02) and for female friends (p < .05). The findings' implications for research and for the self-fulfillment of physical attractiveness stereotyping are discussed in terms of social exchange and social learning formulations.