The scale for objective attractiveness and how it’s developed. Is it a learned behavior?

ta1074 · 2023-05-18T11:49:15+00:00

A loaded question. The answer becomes more obvious if you look at how we prefer certain animals and insects. Both hamsters and rats are rodents. No one has ever taught you rodent beauty or aesthetics in your entire life. Yet somehow we all know hamsters are more attractive than rats. That's why most people prefer to have the former as a pet instead of the latter. Same thing with insects. No one has ever taught you insects beauty. Yet everybody prefers butterflies to moths. Everybody prefers moths to cockroaches.

TLDR No it's not a learned behaviour.

MarBitt · 2023-05-18T06:49:46+00:00

Human infants, just a few days of age, are known to prefer attractive human faces... The findings suggest that infant preference for attractive faces reflects the activity of general processing mechanisms rather than a specific adaptation to mate choice.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2566458/

InjectAdrenochrome · 2023-05-18T06:22:10+00:00

I think objective attractiveness is partially science based on what facial features are the most attractive. However your romantic attraction to other people is partially learned. Some people have a "type" that they find really attractive who may not be objectively the most attractive, but they are still above average looking most of the time. Certain facial traits like having a long midface or something is objectively unattractive, but I personally find men with long midfaces to be more attractive personally.

So those supermodels are objectively very attractive people with striking features. However, I prefer a different face type. That does not mean supermodels are not very attractive too, I just prefer other facial features that aren't "optimal". A lot of people have differing tastes in pretty subtle differences in faces. Someone you think is an 8 is someone else's 6, etc.

WilliamWyattD · 2023-05-18T07:22:20+00:00

Humans are a mystery. Beauty is the ultimate human mystery. There is enormous variation on the individual level.

That said, patterns for what we find attractive are strong at the population level, and seem to be rooted in biology. However, environment and culture play a role too; we assume within limits, but we don't know those limits.

The OP's question is a bit different: On this backdrop of what we find objectively attractive, whom do we actually develop sexual/romantic feelings for. Here, I think men and women are quite different. All caveats about enormous individual variation notwithstanding, men tend to have a more active, robust and straightforward libido. If a man finds a woman attractive he is also usually able to develop romantic feelings for her fairly easily given any opportunity.

Women are more complex. For one, the literature suggests that female sexuality is a lot more impacted by circumstances such as environment and socialization. Female sexuality also tends to be more reactive and less persistent and robust. Women are also more sexually selective and they have a hypergamous ideal. For one, this means that individual variation will be even more pronounced in women (many women have a 'type'). Another factor the OP has mentioned is that women seem more reluctant to let erotic feelings grow with a guy who is 'out of their league', as there are dangers to this that men do not face in similar situations. I also believe that women usually prefer to be at least as attractive, physically, as their partner as this helps them feel sufficiently desired.

What the OP is also forgetting is that many women have a very reactive sexuality. They do not feel very strong erotic feelings towards any man, usually, until they get in a situation where they allow the man to make some sexually escalating moves. The OP may be like this: you need a target man who you find acceptable, but you also need a sexually escalating situation with him.

Zabadoodude · 2023-05-18T07:27:03+00:00

It's a combination of learned and innate. What is considered attractive changes a bit between cultures and across time, so there is obviously a learned component, but there is certainly a lot of overlap.

It is possible that the possibility that the average guy wil actually be interested makes it more exciting for you, which makes you more attracted to him. Some people might also have a type that isn't conventionally the most attractive.

SecondEldenLord · 2023-05-18T07:36:56+00:00

Objective attractiviness comes from our instincts. We can instinctually tell who is attractive and who is not whether that is from their face symmetry or the form of their body, etc.

Moose-Ring · 2023-05-18T08:20:01+00:00

I think an interesting and likely possibility is that our subjective attraction is not learned, but genetic. Meaning identical twins are more likely to be attracted to the same type than, say, non-identical twins. Meaning that variation in what people consider attractive isn't necessarily learned.

Soloandthewookiee · 2023-05-18T14:42:47+00:00

Attractiveness isn't objective. I think someone is a 7, you might think they are a 3. It's entirely subjective based on the individual person.

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satisfiedmind- · 2023-05-18T09:06:38+00:00

I think you are confusing excitement with attraction. The thing with people in your league is there is a genuine chance therefore there’s excitement/anticipation experienced. That’s not the same as physical attraction which is more about your genital’s response to them. With physical attraction if you know there’s no chance you lack the excitement/anticipation element.

87AudreyHorne · 2023-05-18T09:31:54+00:00

It's a mix of inborn and learned, I think you're born with a sense of what is attractive for the most part in terms of symmetry, proportions etc and this is very universal.

Your surroundings and upbringing can expose you to some preferences in details such as the types you prefer, certain looks and styles, fashions and so on.

Happy_Nuclear_End · 2023-05-18T11:44:17+00:00

For men is basically natural, for women it's learned as she have access to different men and her view of averages are warped.

wtknight · 2023-05-18T12:09:04+00:00

For example, I know I’m around a 5 on the attractiveness scale. I can recognize that males that are within the model range are attractive human beings but generally don’t have any romantic feels for those people because I just know they’re not in my league and it would never work out.

I think that this is how women look at things. Average men are still attracted to the most attractive women, and might even approach them since it’s like playing the lottery. High value men all still want sex with average value women, but would not consider relationships with them in most cases.

Women learn to adjust their expectations because, subconsciously, they want a man to stick around and to help support her offspring. Even childfree women will still subconsciously do this. Not wanting a child because of the contemporary issues when it comes to having a child doesn’t remove that evolutionary impulse.

Last_Rule_2536 · 2023-05-18T18:26:38+00:00

I feel ur diving to deep Into it which makes it a such of a monumental decision to find someone or even settle down jsst go w the flow n tings should progress in ur favor

Flightlessbirbz · 2023-05-18T20:06:20+00:00

Attractiveness is both objective and subjective, innate and shaped by the culture around us. Humans tend to look for signs of health, fertility, wealth, and status in a mate. It’s just that exactly what signals wealth and status changes depending on time period and location.

For example, morbid obesity and being severely underweight is almost always unattractive. But in the past and in some countries today, being a bit fat meant you had plenty of food to eat. This could compromise health to some degree but was seen as desirable still. Likewise, being skinny signals wealth and status today, even though after a certain point that too can negatively affect health and fertility.

Different types of faces and skin tones have also been considered attractive or unattractive in various times and locations, but overall symmetry and clear skin is classically beautiful. For men, a larger stature is generally preferred, while a preference for taller or more petite women is variable. For the face, either a more “pretty” or more masculine face can be preferred on men, and for women, either soft and “cute” or sharp and “striking.” But in all cases, general balance and harmony reads as more attractive. Coloring preferences are highly subjective between cultures and individuals. These are just a few examples of objective and subjective beauty, and as you can see, both exist simultaneously.

throwaway164_3 · 2023-05-19T04:24:34+00:00

So let’s assume we all start as equals

But we don’t though. Some men are genetically taller and more muscular (and hence more likely to be considered attractive by women).

Den_the_God-King · 2023-05-21T09:29:55+00:00

Male models pretty much look the same.

Title	The scale for objective attractiveness and how it’s developed. Is it a learned behavior?
Author	Last_Rule_2536
Upvotes	16
Comments	39
Date	May 18, 2023 6:14 AM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/13kqbt5/the_scale_for_objective_attractiveness_and_how/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/the-scale-for-objective-attractiveness-and-how-its.1219621 https://theredarchive.com/post/1219621

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