Facing attraction

Men and Women attracted to facesThe opposite sex is much more interested in your face than your body.

The first study to assess how much faces and bodies contribute to attractiveness, by Marianne Peters from the University of Western Australia, shows that it’s not the body that attracts a mate.

For women rating men, attractiveness is 52 percent face rating, 24 percent for bodies.

When men rated women, attractiveness is 47 percent from her face, 32 percent by her body.

[short blurb at New Scientist]


When asked what traits they look for in a mate, men and women agreed on the top nine traits. However, men ranked good looks and facial attractiveness higher whereas women placed greater emphasis on honesty, kindness and dependability. [from a national BBC study of more than 450,000 people.]


Women are better at remembering faces than men, probably because they’re more interested in social aspects of the world than men are. [link to blurb]


Some women are wary of men who are both attractive and wealthy. A rich, good-looking man seeking a wife might do well to play down his wealth. [link to blurb]