The Face – Not the Body – Attracts a Mate
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Attraction to the opposite sex — body builders need not apply. It appears that the opposite sex is much more interested in your face than your bulging biceps or bodacious bod, particularly if you’re a man. At least that’s the result of the first study to assess laws of attraction on how greatly faces and bodies contribute to one’s overall attractiveness. Photo Lindayspix.
Both men and women took part in a trial to assess the allure of people in photographs, on a scale of 1 to 7. Some participants saw the entire person, some saw faces on their own, and some just bodies.
Marianne Peters from the University of Western Australia in Crawley and colleagues assessed the face-only and body-only ratings to see how well they predicted the “entire person” ratings.
The study revealed that faces account for more of the variation among ratings than do bodies; in other words, faces are more important. Photo by Lynksxs TCat.
For women rating men, 52% of the magnetic appeal score was made up by the face rating, while bodies made up for 24%.
The trend was similar when men rated women, with 47% of a woman’s overall attractiveness accounted for by her face, and 32% by her body. (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.07.012).
Peters said that women focus above all on the face because they are better at picking up emotional cues which are key to partner suitability. Photo by Funfotoguy.
Tags:attract a mate attraction attractiveness beauty laws of attraction Marianne Peters study
Bad news for fitness centers…
I know I am more of a face person. If given the opportunity to go on a date with two different I did not know in as much as personality, I would absolutely choose a fat guy with a nice face than a fit man with a nasty face.
Jan, you make me laugh!
Angie, I go for face over body hands down.
Hi,
I tagged you to play in the “3 Things You Love”… a Meme created by me!
I hope that you can be part of it
Best regards from Portugal
Hi 1 Millionlovemessages. Thanks for thinking of me. If I can work it into something that my viewers can benefit from for stories, I’ll be happy to take part. That’s the key for me to participate, to be able to create a post that provides something interesting for others to read.
All the best to you in Portugal!
Interesting article!!!… Deborah….. and I think a happy, smiling face is even more attractive!!!!!!
Oooh yes, with a beautiful set of teeth … very sexy.
Actually, pheromones have a lot to do how we chose our partners- just showing some expertise in biochemistry
Yes Vlad, they even make colognes with pheromones!
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58 years ago I saw this body to die for (female) sixty days later we married.We aree spewnding our 58th snsversdary in Aruba and use, she still has it.
I love hearing stories like yours Pawpawmac! It’s so wonderful to hear people that feel as much or more for their mates after all the years as they did in the very beginning
One of my favorite couples friends married 30 days after they met. Everyone thought they were foolish for rushing in. But it’s been more than 30 years since their wedding date, and my friend says that her heart still skips a beat every time he enters the room.
helo friand sexy
I think personality is more important