How Important Is Physical Attraction in a Relationship?
Within moments of meeting someone, we make all sorts of assessments about them, including their physical attractiveness. When it comes to evaluating a potential relationship match, many people will use this quality to evaluate and determine whether they should pursue someone. We all know physical attraction is important in dating, but is it everything?
The answer is not so simple.
Physical attraction is important in any relationship. Who doesn’t want to be physically attracted to the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with? Many people feel like physical attraction is directly correlated with sexual attraction, and there is some truth to this. However, science has uncovered that there are many unexpected factors like face shape, voice pitch, even smell are also important factors in determining who we’re attracted to. Though subtle, these factors can play a powerful role in our assessment of attraction.
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Physical beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Attraction is more than that. Attraction Does Not Equal Type-casting
Singles frequently discuss having a “type.” Guys might say something like, “I want a woman about 5’5”, shaped like a Coca-Cola bottle, cute dimples and a nice smile. Oh…and she has to have good feet!” (Whatever that means…lol!) That’s not attraction. That’s a fantasy floating around in his mind of what woman he would choose if he could build her and give her every perfect attribute he could come up with. Including good feet.
A man can be attracted to some of those traits, but having a type is more a discussion of demographics and physical features. Race and more importantly, culture sometimes plays a part in what we consider a “type” we tend to gravitate towards as a mate. Whether that’s important in your situation or not, we should realize type and attraction are different things. You can date, fall in love and marry someone who is not necessarily your “type,” but you won’t do any of those things if you are not attracted to them. In our country and society today, attraction is typically a non-negotiable requirement of any relationship.