why do people perceive physical attractiveness differently

By M.Farouk Radwan, MSc.

why do people perceive physical attractiveness differently

I have previously said that there are universal standards for physical attraction that people agree upon all over the world such as the low waist to hip ratio of a woman and the masculine look of a man.

While this theory can help us know more about what attracts people to each other still it doesn't explain why do certain people like certain facial features. Why would a man like a woman with a straight face and not a woman with a round face? Why would a woman prefer a man who is bald and not a man with hair?

In other words, the question is, why do people perceive physical attractiveness differently even though there are universally agreed upon attraction standards!

Attraction and associations

The human mind makes a great use of associations during its operation. Some people fear darkness just because its associated with evil in their minds while others never find anything fearsome about darkness.

The difference between the two groups is the way the association was formed in the mind.
now when it comes to attraction things work the same way. Some people associate certain facial features with certain personality traits. Of course this happens on the unconscious level and so the person never knows why he likes or dislikes certain facial features.

I know a man who is active, punctual, organized and very serious. That man is turned off by women who have round facial features!! After analyzing This man's way of thinking i reached the conclusion that he has associated round things with passiveness, lack of energy and laziness!

that's why he only found women with straight facial features attractive. Its because he associated straight lines with order, punctuality and being straight forward. (see also Physical attractiveness perception)

Universal attraction standards vs associations

So does this contradict the fact that there are universal standards of attraction out there?

No this finding doesn't contradict this fact at all, here is why:
All people are born with certain biological attraction map that makes them find certain people attractive. But because human beings learn, form new beliefs, make new associations and construct new realities some of them modify their factory settings and become attracted to certain facial features and not others.

Its the same as selling 10 similar computers to 10 different people only to find later that each person added different programs to these 10 computers.

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