... more physically attractive students were liked more by their partners than were the less attractive students. Physical attractiveness proved to outweigh qualities such as intelligence and personality. Walster et al asked the students 6 months later whether they had dated their partners since the dance, the results supported the matching hypothesis, and they found that partners were more likely to have dated if they were similar in physical attractiveness than if they were not. Further support for the matching hypothesis is evident from Murstein (1972) who suggested that there was a definite tendency for two people in a couple to be similar in terms of physical attractiveness when he studied the physical attractiveness of engaged couples and those going out together when judged from photographs. The second most important factor in the formation of relationships is proximity. Strong evidence for this was found by Festinger et al (1950). The proximity may be ...

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