The Mystery of AttractionBy William M. Vega

What drives Attraction?I chose this question because it’s something

I’ve wondered about my whole life. What

makes a person attractive? Why is this person

any more attractive than that person? Are

looks everything? Or is it something more?

What is attraction?

Generally speaking, an attraction is what

draws a person to an object, person, place,

or thing. Attraction manifests itself in a lot

of ways. Physical, Interpersonal, Sexual,

etc.

Biological There are various biological aspects to

attraction.

Smell

Facial Symmetry

Hormones

Voice Patterns

Smell Smells are processed by the brain in a manner similar to emotions.

Major histocompatibility complex

“The MHC sections of our DNA that determine what diseases our immune

system is equipped to fight. There are over 100 genes in this region. No

MHC is the same nor do two people smell the same.”(Andreae,2010)

Pheromones ( Scented Sex Hormones)

Pheromones are sex hormones that can attract people to one another.

Men and women have their own set of Pheromones.

Incest Relatives give off a certain scent that is designed to drive off and

disgust their female family members.

Woman have are repulsed by the subtle scent of their male family

members

Proximity

People who lived closely together during their early childhood years

become immune to future sexual attraction to each other after the

onset of puberty.

Symmetry“Faces with more Symmetry have higher

mate value” (Andreae,2010)

Thus faces that are more symmetrical are more attractive than those that are not.

Hormones Androstenol and Androstenone

Androstenol is made by the sweat of men generally after it is first produced by the body. This is attractive to women.

Androstenone is made by sweat from men after exposure to oxygen. This is generally unattractive to women.

Androstenone is the stinky after workout smell most women are used to finding on a man.

CopulanceCopulance is a female hormone that can cause a spike in

male testosterone levels. This can have the side effect of rendering a man unable to tell the difference between an attractive female and unattractive female.

Testosterone can impair a man’s ability to think clearly.

Voice PatternsThe voices of women change if they are ovulating.

They become more high pitched and feminine.

Men find the voice of a woman who is ovulating more

attractive than that of one who is not.

More often than not, Men won’t even notice this.

Women prefer deeper, more masculine voices.

Social

Status

Physical Attractiveness

Interpersonal Attraction

Status Status is a huge factor in determining people’s perceptions of one

another.

Women find men of a higher social class much more than men who

are in a lesser social class.

This means women are more likely to be attracted to a rich guy than

someone who isn’t rich.

Men aren’t affected by social status and would not prefer a rich

woman to one who isn’t.

Physical Attraction Skin plays a role in determining physical attraction due to

genetic cues in DNA.

Body movements can send messages that can make a person

seem more attractive.

Women find movements that express a masculine demeanor

more attractive.

Men prefer body movements that are feminine.

Interpersonal Attraction“Attractions that lead to interpersonal relationships such as

friendships and courtships.” (Interpersonal Attraction, Web. 15 Nov. 2013)

Propinquity. “People you interact with more are more likely

to be friends or more.” (Interpersonal Attraction, Web. 15 Nov. 2013)

Exposure Effect

“Similarity plays a huge role in interpersonal attraction.”

(Interpersonal Attraction, Web. 15 Nov. 2013)

Social Surveys I conducted two types of experiments.

Date : November, 10th 2013

Place: Online

For the first experiment, I surveyed over 15 people and

asked them to rate 10 of their past partners/love interests

on a scale of 1-10 according to attractiveness. Then I had

them rate themselves.

Survey Results The purpose of the experiment was to find a correlation between

one’s personal perception of their own attractiveness and the

attractiveness of chosen love interests and partners.

A pattern was found in which participants started choosing partners

with high levels of attractiveness then scaled down before scaling up.

This tells me that socially, we all aim for partners with a high level of

attractiveness but then slowly look for partners in our own level of

attractiveness.

Facial Experiment I put the face of several celebrities considered attractive on a

Facial Beauty/ Symmetry Analysis website.

Results showed that all celebrities have a high level of facial

symmetry.

I also tested it on my own face out of curiosity. I found that the

results were reliable. I have some obvious imperfections such as

long ears and in the analysis, and this is pointed out while also

showing in what ways my face was symmetrical.

Facial Symmetry Analysis Results

Facial Symmetry Analysis Pt.2

My Facial Symmetry Analysis Results

Conclusion There is no clear cut answer on what drives attraction.

It could be all of these things or none of these things.

I believe physical attraction is not the definitive factor in determining

attraction as a whole. If this were true, then everyone would be attracted to

the same type of person. It is apparent that attraction is driven by many

different forces that cannot all be understood.

I personally believe the answer is a mixture of all I learned during this

extensive research process and more. Certainly only time will tell what the

one true answer is.

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