A is for Attraction

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

What is it that creates an attraction between two people? The whole romance genre is built around the premise that people become attracted to one another and that attraction blossoms into love. But exactly what causes attraction?

Here are some of the “laws of attraction” in men and women:

According to Huffington Post Science, women tend to go for men with a large jaw and prominent brow — shaped by high levels of testosterone. Men are attracted to women with a smaller chin and less prominent brow, which signal higher estrogen levels.

 

Also in this article scientists found that men found women wearing red to be more attractive and sexually desirable, compared to women in blue. The study suggests that red serves as a signal for sexual excitation, since the effect also occurs in nonhuman primates.

 

A 2006 study linked men’s hunger to the traits they find desirable in women. During an experiment, men who were hungry preferred women with higher body weights. These hungry men found heavy women more attractive than did the men who were not hungry at the time.

 

In a recent study, men found women with feminine faces attractive– but only when these men were looking for a short-term relationship.

 

Research has found that during ovulating, women prefer masculine looking men. But at other times of the month they seek men with softer features.

 

Women are more attracted to men who have ideal hunting physique, narrow waists, strong shoulders and broad chests. (The romance hero ideal!)

 

When we are attracted to someone, our bodies release specific chemicals that produce a state of euphoria.  The three chemicals that combine to create this phenomenon are oxytocin, phenylethylamine, and endorphins.  Together they produce intense feelings of pleasure within the body, hence the attraction to the person who makes you feel good. This phenomenon is called a chemical romance.

 

People with a prominent or very dark limbal ring (the darker circle around the iris of your eye that makes the whites stand out) are considered more attractive because the darker circle is an indicator of youth and good health.

 

Men have odorless testosterone in their sweat called androstadienone. When women breathe this in they give higher ratings of attractiveness to men than they would otherwise per a study by Claire Wyatt at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Women are more likely to judge a man to be more attractive when they see another woman looking and smiling at him.

 

Filed under: Craft, Jenna Jaxon