Attraction and Attractiveness in Male-female Dyads : Do Dating Couples Differ from Cross-sex Friends?

Abstract

Heterosexual dating partners tend to be similarly attractive. They are also highly attracted to one another; and both men and women rate their partners as more attractive than they rate themselves. Less is known about attractiveness and perceptions of attractiveness among heterosexual cross-sex friendship dyads, although a common finding is that men report more attraction toward their female friends than women do toward their male friends. The purpose of this study was to (1) replicate the finding that men are more attracted than women are to their cross-sex friends; (2) investigate variability within each sex in attraction to cross-sex friends; and (3) determine whether friends rate their partners as more attractive than they rate themselves.