Everyone is attracted to different people and has their own preferences; however there is no denying that certain people are attractive no matter what your ‘type’ is. Take Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for example, they’re attractive and there’s no denying it. But why are they so attractive? What is it about people that makes them irrefutably gorgeous?
Upon researching this topic I’ve come to many sources that say were attracted to genes that that will make the best match for us. But what exactly does that mean? According to business insider, it’s those who are fertile, have good genes, and whose immune system complements ours. By mating with someone who is healthy and has good genes, we can pass those genes down to the kids we have with them.
Yes people are attracted to different things, but what we look for generally tends to be the same focus. Our bodies and brains have been tuned to spot these genetic traits through physical features in the face and body. Clear skin, symmetric faces and clear eyes are among three top factors of highly attractive people.
Judith Langlois, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas in Austin concurs that symmetric faces are a key factor in what makes people attractive. Around the world, facial symmetry is considered a sign of beauty. The face must be average in terms of position and size of facial features. She conducted a study in which she showed an infant pictures of women rated on attractiveness by college students. The photos were in a slide and the time was recorded of on long the baby spent looking at a photo before he looked away. In the end, the infant spent the most time looking at the faces thought to be most attractive by the college students showing attractiveness can be collectively recognizable.
Symmetric faces are a general coconscious when it comes to beauty. “If you choose a perfectly symmetrical partner and reproduce with them, your offspring will have a better chance of being symmetric and able to deal with perturbations,” evolutionary biologist Randy Thornhill told LiveScience, referring to offspring having a better chance of survival.
So is there actually a science behind beauty? According to sources the answer is yes! People want and are mostly attracted to good genes for reproductive health.
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-makes-someone-sexy-2013-2#ixzz3GoHKVRMM
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/enigma-beauty/#page=3
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/17-facts-about-human-sexual-attraction_n_3817941.html
Another interesting situation is that we are more attracted to people who look similar to us because we look for characteristics we like in ourselves in others. TODAY reports that A 2003 study from the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that people want to be connected to someone they see as similar to themselves. They prefer someone of a similar level of attractiveness, wealth and status, and commitment to family and monogamy. I found this at http://www.today.com/health/opposites-attract-why-you-should-date-someone-more-you-2D12072745
Interesting….so next time you see a couple and think “Umm they look like they could be brother and sister” know they are probably a match made in heaven 🙂
Beauty is a difficult topic to study because it can be drastically different from person to person, country to country, culture to culture. This is an awesome example of how beauty varies between countries: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-19-different-countries-define-beauty-2014-6?op=1 A journalist decided to send out pictures of her to modeling agencies in 19 different countries and edited them to fit each countries typical standards for beauty.
While the colors and sometimes eye shape, lip shape, etc. were sometimes constructed to fit the culture’s specific “look,” I did notice that the dimensions were generally the same in terms of distance and size. I think this could be evidence used towards the hypothesis that their is a scientific, or more specifically mathematical, explanation behind human attraction.
Although evolutionary biologists have conducted studies such as rating people on their attractiveness and seeing how long babies stare at a symmetrical face vs an asymmetrical face, these studies are subject to biases because the participants are just telling the researchers they’re personal opinion if they find them attractive or not. In addition, even though babies may stare at a symmetrical face longer than an asymmetrical face, that doesn’t mean that those faces are more attractive. A baby can’t speak, so researchers cannot draw conclusions as to why the baby is staring at the face for longer.
I find it especially interesting that different groups of people around the world have different ideals for beauty. For example, in Mauritania, women are sent to “fat-farms” where they are force-fed until fat. This is because fat is valued over the curvy thinness that is valued in America.
http://www.tripbase.com/blog/8-ideals-of-beauty-from-around-the-world/
In addition, beauty ideals can change. A few years ago, being skinny was seen as ideal amongst girls, with models like Angelina Jolie and Cindy Crawford reigning supreme. Now, the ideal has shifted more towards “curviness,” with Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, and Jennifer Lopez spearheading the movement.
Your point about facial symmetry is interesting because it seems to transcend the differences between cultural beauty ideals, as most every culture values it.
I was unaware that facial symmetry and beauty had any sort of correlation, so this is interesting news to me. When thinking of how attractive someone is or isn’t, based on personal opinion, I think it’s really interesting that we subconsciously think of how symmetrical their face is. I say subconsciously because I certainly don’t look at someone and say “wow, that person is so good looking, their face is like 100% symmetrical!”. This entire article is very interesting, thank you for sharing.