There has long been a debate...

[Mtnjim]

looks

do/don't matter. I came across

this article

detailing a cross generational study that may answer some of the questions.

From the introduction

(emphasis mine):

Everyone knows looks shouldn’t matter. Beauty, after all, is only skin

deep, and no right-thinking person would admit to taking much account of how someone looks outside the realm of

courtship, that romantic free-trade zone traditionally exempted from the usual tariffs of rationality.

Even in that tender kingdom, where love at first sight is still readily indulged, it would be impolitic, if not

immature, to admit giving too much weight to a factor as shallow as looks. Yet perhaps it’s time to say

what we all secretly know, which is that looks do matter, maybe even more than most of us think.
We

infer a great deal from people’s looks—not just when it comes to mating (where looks matter profoundly),

but in almost every other aspect of life as well, including careers and social status. It may not be true that

blondes have more fun, but it’s highly likely that attractive people do, and they start early. Mothers pay

more attention to good-looking babies, for example, but, by the same token, babies pay more attention to

prettier adults who wander into their field of vision. Attractive people are paid more on the job, marry

more desirable spouses, and are likelier to get help from others when in evident need. Nor is this all sheer,

baseless prejudice. Human beings appear to be hard-wired to respond to how people and objects look, an

adaptation without which the species might not have made it this far. The unpleasant truth is that, far from

being only skin deep, our looks reflect all kinds of truths about difference and desire—truths we are, in all

likelihood, biologically programmed to detect.
Sensitivity to the signals of human appearances would

naturally lead to successful reproductive decisions, and several factors suggest that this sensitivity may be

bred in the bone. Beauty may even be addictive. Researchers at London’s University College have found that

human beauty stimulates a section of the brain called the ventral striatum, the same region activated in drug

and gambling addicts when they’re about to indulge their habit. Photos of faces rated unattractive had no

effect on the volunteers to whom they were shown, but the ventral striatum did show activity if the picture was

of an attractive person, especially one looking straight at the viewer. And the responses occurred even when

the viewer and the subject of the photo were of the same sex. Good-looking people just do something to us,

whether we like it or not.
People’s looks speak to us, sometimes in a whisper and sometimes in a

shout, of health, reproductive fitness, agreeableness, social standing, and intelligence. Although looks

in mating still matter much more to men than to women, the importance of appearance appears to be rising on

both sides of the gender divide. In a fascinating cross-generational study of mating preferences, every 10

years different groups of men and women were asked to rank 18 characteristics they might want enhanced in a

mate. The importance of good looks rose “dramatically” for both men and women from 1939 to 1989, the

period of the study, according to David M. Buss, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Texas. On a

scale of 1 to 3, the importance men gave to good looks rose from 1.50 to 2.11. But for women, the

importance of good looks in men rose from 0.94 to 1.67. In other words, women in 1989 considered a man’s

looks even more important than men considered women’s looks 50 years earlier. Since the 1930s, Buss

writes, “physical appearance has gone up in importance for men and women about equally, corresponding with the

rise in television, fashion magazines, advertising, and other media depictions of attractive

models.”

In all likelihood this trend will continue, driven by social and technological changes

that are unlikely to be reversed anytime soon—changes such as the new ubiquity of media images, the growing

financial independence of women, and the worldwide weakening of the institution of marriage. For better or

worse, we live now in an age of appearances. It looks like looks are here to stay.

[bronzie]

but jim, ive seen some real ugly

guys with some very very attractive women...

[Mtnjim]

but jim, ive seen

some real ugly guys with some very very attractive women...

No doubt. Heck, I'm a good example of

that!

[live4themusic]

but Bronzie, I've seen

some REALLY ugly girls with some REALLY good-looking guys (in a relationship)

[bubblebob]

I think there is some

difference in what people say what they think is important and what really get's them attracted to another

person. What they say simply reflects their social conditioning - beauty has become much more important and

desirable since all media (esp. commercials) kind of hyped it and implied, that beautiful people have a huge

advantage over everyone else. But this social conditioning doesn't necessarily promote real attraction - because

this attraction thing is hard-wired in our brains for a very long time. I don't say beauty doesn't help

attraction, but it is not necessary.

What I'm trying to say is that I think this study has a major failure -

the scienists imply that what people say what attracts them and what really attracts them is

basically the same.

[Mohammad Shah]

"Beauty lies in the eyes of the Beholder"

[KeepItReal]

I've read that looking for a

beautiful mate is, or can be considered a narcissistic trait ..... ??