ATTRACTIVENESS, ATTENTIVENESS, AND PERCEIVED MALE SHORTAGE - THEIR INFLUENCE ON PERCEPTIONS OF OTHER FEMALES

In two related studies we examined women's perceptions of each other. In the first study we hypothesized that subjects' perceptions of two w omen would be a function of their relative physical attractiveness, an d the extent to which a male was interacting with them. Female subject s were randomly assigned to one of four groups; each group saw one pho tograph, and subjects were asked to describe what was occurring in it, and then completed a questionnaire. The ''other woman'' in the photos was alone, was either provocatively made-up or not, and was either co nversing or not conversing with a man in the presence of his female co mpanion. When the ''other woman'' was dressed provocatively, she was m ore disliked than when she was dressed casually, especially if she was depicted talking to another woman's companion. In the second study wo men and men were asked about their responses to the film ''Fatal Attra ction,'' in which a single woman sought to take a married man away fro m his wife. Single women who were concerned about a ''male shortage'' were more likely to have seen the film. Both women and men disliked th e ''other woman'' and identified with the wife, and women frequently d isliked the husband.