Assignment 2
“Interpersonal Attraction and Love”
For this assignment, you are writing an argumentative essay under the topic of
“Interpersonal Attraction and Love.” To write an argumentative essay, you need to first identify a central theme as your specific argument, and take a side on the argument with supporting evidence. Your central theme may or may not be related to the assigned article. The article may simply serve as a spring board to inspire you to think about the role of odor in romantic relationships.
Listed below are some potential perspectives you could consider. You are welcome to use one of them as your major theme. Alternatively, you may choose to modify or combine them to create a theme that interests you most. You are also encouraged to create your own unique theme, as long as it is under the topic “Interpersonal
Attraction and Love.”
Since you are free to design your own theme, be sure to specify clearly in the introduction of your paper what your central theme or major argument is. Regardless of your choice, it is important to use psychology-related evidence to support your argument. Please see Assignments Guidelines for details.
Potential ideas for your major themes:
- Do you think odor plays a role in love and attraction (romantic relationship)? In what way does it influence attractiveness? Support your discussion with research evidence. -
How is odor compared to facial features? Do you think one affect attraction more than the other? Discuss your stance with supporting evidence.
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In the article, the author wrote, “odor pleasantness had a mixed effect. Visual age cues strongly influenced age perception during pleasant odor stimulation, making older faces look older and younger faces look younger. This effect was weakened in the presence of unpleasant odors, so that younger and older faces were perceived to be more similar in age”. How would you interpret this finding?
Discuss with psychological