Picking a Partner | Psychology of Physical Attraction

What is it about physically attractive people that we find so attractive? What do men and women look for in a potential partner? Let's break down the what's and why's of attractiveness.

Instagram ►

---

MythBusters Segment

Burriss, R. P., Rowland, H. M., & Little, A. C. (2009). Facial scarring enhances men’s attractiveness for short-term relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(2), 213-217. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.09.029

Mark, K. P., Janssen, E., & Milhausen, R. R. (2011). Infidelity in Heterosexual Couples: Demographic, Interpersonal, and Personality-Related Predictors of Extradyadic Sex. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(5), 971-982. doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9771-z

Myrskylä, M., & Fenelon, A. (2012). Maternal Age and Offspring Adult Health: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study. Demography, 49(4), 1231-1257. doi:10.1007/s13524-012-0132-x

Sugiyama, L. S. (2015) Physical Attractiveness in Adaptationist Perspective, in The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (ed D. M. Buss), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA. doi: 10.1002/9780470939376.ch10

Veale, D., Miles, S., Bramley, S., Muir, G., & Hodsoll, J. (2015). Am I normal? A systematic review and construction of nomograms for flaccid and erect penis length and circumference in up to 15?521 men. BJU International, 115(6), 978-986. doi:10.1111/bju.13010

**A Specific Note on "Birth Order": There are a number of confounding variables which contribute to why birth order affects children, and no evidence seems to suggest that actually being the second or third child alone leads to any negative health outcomes. Those confounds include age of the mother, elder siblings exposing infant siblings to germs and pathogens, poor maternal health/nutrition later in life, etc. A comprehensive review can be found here:

Black, S., Devereux, P., & Salvanes, K. (2015). Healthy(?), Wealthy and Wise: Birth Order and Adult Health. NBER Working Paper No. 21337. doi:10.3386/w21337

---

Photo Credits -

Film Credits -

Donald TrumpBrags About The Size Of His P****. "Big Hands"

Booty Pop Commercial

1990's INFOMERCIAL HELL #19Spray paint the bald away with GLH, by Ronco, of course!

Music Credits -

"Furious Freak" and "Daily Beetle (Edited)" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

---

Hashtags: #psychology #evopsych #hot #pretty #attractive #mate #sex #dating #hookup #mating #romance #handsome #marriage #adult #love