Hi guys,
I have this project for school in which I need to do research on the question above. Its more of a research based assignment but my group though it would be useful to use a means such as this to collect information. This question is open to both men and women obviously. And... There was an alternate question that was provided which is: What makes people attractive to others?
I can really use your help on this. So if you prefer to answer the first question then just start your response with Q1- or something so that I know which question you are asking. Thanks everyone.

Why did you post this in two boards

I can offer you an opinion, I have no facts. And for reference, i'm a guy.

Q-1: Since I have no idea if there's an age range, i'll start at the bottom and work my way up. When kids are little(Between 5 and 10), they generally just want to be with a girl(If they're in to that. Most little kids think girls are icky, yucky, there's a whole bunch of words for it.). In their post-puberty, teenage years(12-18), men are usually actracted to women who have beautiful skin, complimenting hair style and color, beautiful eye's, nice lips, slim and sexy body, decent sized breasts, not ugly, and not too short, not too tall. Truthfully that one seems more like looking for mate to produce the best offspring with. Then you get to the adult years and everything gets flipped on top of its head(most times.). Suddenly, things like a persons body don't matter. To some it does, but others it doesn't. It all comes down to who they can identify with, who makes them feel comfortable, loved, etc.

Q-2: What makes people attractive to others? Hmm, this is a tough one. I guess this one really goes down to an individual basis, so i'll just say what attracts me to others. That being said though, I almost never pursue anyone, and very few ever come to me. I guess, even being sixteen, i've somewhat passed what I called the post-puberty stage. I'm more interested in the girl's personality than her looks, though looks still matter, hence the somewhat. I like a girl who's cute, who's girly and not manly(This means sports and fighting are a taboo for me. Can girls play sports? Sure. I'm not sexist. I'm just saying I associate sports with guys, not girls.), who's smart, caring, kind, and a mystery. That last one is what confuses people. Everyone I personally know takes everything at face value, but I don't. I like to look deeper. I want someone to need me, to be there for them when they need it. So I guess you could say that i'm attracted to girls who've had hard lives(And not one that they'll just blurt out. Two girls have done that already. From day one they spilled all the beans and it just threw my interest out the window. They didn't need my help, they just wanted someone to give a damn. Which I did, and they got too attached and I couldn't reciprocate that.), and need my help to move forward. Its odd, and i'm bound to get some hate for that, its happened before, but thats just how it is.

But yeah, there you have it. Thats my full opinion on both. Sorry for the life's story on the second question.

I heard a while back that everyone has a specific sent that people can't pick up on because we became used to it from being around humans all our lives. Each sent is slightly different. That sent can cause your brain to produce different hormones that cause a person to become attracted to the person(or absolutely hate the person, depending on the sent and your brain). I'm not 100% sure if this is true so if you're going to use it, i would do some research on this first.

>>4 I think you mean "scent", and I disbelieve that.

I honestly think its because men choose to produce the best possible offspring. Most these days go for looks only, and overlook actually strength. I Would rather go for the girl who is shy, reserved, yet has good gades, rather than the girl whose very attractive, a total socil-holic, and has all the men gawking at her like idiots. They don';t know if she's smart or not, just that she has a good body.

>>4>>5 They're called pheremones.

apperences commonly

Actually Many people wonder About that question but the problem is that now we are in an era were girls are... How to say this? The majority of girls are bad seeds or went down the wrong road.

The common thing that girls are now attracted to are their wealth or looks, Practicly guys like justin bieber, one direction and such. Heck, My neighbors daughter thinks she doesn't have enough money when I look around and see plasma tv's
, Gaming consoles, Two fidges full of food and she's still thinking that's not enough? I can't groan about it because I'm at a decent status but yeah it's a proven point.

Another kind of thing is that girls are recently attracted to bad boys or those who have a bad reputation towards being popular and in some event's the girls themselves if they have a high status they come after the weaker entries and do the "Boy- rejection trial" In which they date them for the extent of a week or so and eventually dump them when they are at their most vulnerab;e. Yes I might hear someone deny me on what I called research first hand but I have experienced it and I can't say otherwise.

To behonest, There are actually girls who are attracted to gamers, Manga lovers and so on and can get along with them but there are only few numbers of 'em. And most of the time you can't tell.
WEll I would explain more But I think theres a text limit so I'll cut it here, Good luck on the project.

There is alot of truth in this thread,very interesting...but I wonder what would make a man attractive to a woman?
It would be a serious plus if any females could give their opinions on this!

There was a basic study that a news program did years back. They presented women with good looking guys, and bad looking guys. With both of the types of men having the same income the more attractive ones almost always won. But when the income of the ugly men surpassed that of the attractive the women favored the ugly ones.

Psychologically speaking, women look for security in a mate. Nowadays that usually means financial security. You also want good looks, because that means good genes. Finally, familiarity breeds love, that's why a lot of times it is said that girls marry their fathers and boys their mothers(I mean personality wise), because that is what we are most familiar with.

Men look for pretty women(the good gene things again) as well as familiarity (the mom thing again).

Of course there are always exceptions to this.

It's really hard to answer either question - what women look for in men, what men look for in women, what anybody looks for in anyone else in general... sure, one can make sweeping assumptions about biology and historical contexts like Elunore's description of the psychological tendencies, or dxb's attempt to reference pheromones, which is simply biochemical reactions.

But the interesting part of being a human being is the idea that basic instinct can be overturned depending on how one is conditioned growing up, how deeply one is able to analyze their own psychology, or simply how tastes change over time as Shade mentioned. The irony here is that sweeping generalizations are largely correct, but on an individual level they're almost always inaccurate. You'd be taking the average of an insanely wide range of possibilities.

Especially nowadays, when gender roles are being called into question by the younger generation - feminism is on the rise, for better or worse, and suddenly the traditional ideals of people are being flip-flopped or obscured entirely. In fact you'll hear the most radical new thought is that these traditional roles are outright detestable - but that's usually amongst the silliest of social justice activists.

In today's day and age, the more primal reasoning behind particular physiological ideals in people (strong men who can defend their family, women with large breasts who can sustain their children) are being phased out due to advances in technology. They simply aren't entirely necessary anymore, and it would be silly to believe that the most primal thought would prevail when nothing is keeping it in use. Truly, it's the hardest to answer this question now than it was years ago.

My input is not really a clear-cut answer, I suppose. Others have given the basic answers already - men like pretty women; women like strong men. Some people like tall people, others like them short. For reasons. Given that the science behind it is really based on individual experience, however, I can't even agree with those given answers - at least not 100%.

Hope that helps with your paper!

soft squishy things

>>13
Grey soft squishy things, called brains. I hope that's what you were going for.

>>14 HAHAHA! Made my day.

Anyways, don't be that girl/guy. Brain has a big importance, but so does looks. If a girl isn't up to get dressed, and make herself look at least acceptable, she is not worth the take. And you know why? If she doesn't take care of herself, I am not the one to start a relationship to take care of her.

We all have our problems. And yes, personality is the thing that has the biggest influence on my choices. But I am not here to lie and say: "LOOKS DOESN'T MATTER." Hell yeah it does. Sorry if I sound like a douche, but atleast taking the first bit of care with yourself is important.

__
Sage Post, btw.

>>15 THANK YOU! When a guy/girl says looks don't matter, or how it's only what's on the inside that counts... it makes me want to throw a shoe at them, because that is bullshit.

>>16. IKR. We all know that attractive people get treated better by others when compared to ugly people.

I agree wholeheartedly with >>15, >>16, and >>17. Looks DO matter, and nothing irks me more than some idealistic idiot telling me otherwise. Unless you're blind. That's really the only exception. Although, I do think that as you get older, the aesthetic presentation of a person tends to become less important on the basis of an attraction to someone else. Of course, we all have our own preferences in how much we relate appearance with the relationship, but generally, the lust for an attractive partner decreases as you age, and I'm talking 30's/40's/50's. Anyway, if anyone tells me that "looks don't matter" and "it's the inside that's important", well, sure, personality's a massive aspect when it comes to attraction, but hey, I'm sorry, but it's hard to be attracted to ugly people - just ask all the people that aren't attracted to me! :P

I should probably say I was not stating that I believe looks are not important. I was just trying to make a joke on what he said, because, at least in my opinion brains are more important than breasts. I still have a set look of girls that I'm attracted to, and sadly that puts me in a bad spot because 75% of those are out of my league, but I do think looks are somewhat important.

Thanks to you all for all the responses. This is going to be very helpful when I present this tomorrow in my report. If there is anyone else willing to make any last minute comments plz do so within the next 4 hrs or so. Thank you so much.

I'm a huge Durarara fan..And when I found this site my eyes started to glow how amused I was...But I have to say I thought this would be more fun than it is..Eh..

BOOBS!

commonly apearences but sometimes for the soul of someone like them

I think most people would say it was their appearance, but others would say their personality, like me.

I got an extension for another 2 days. Keep them coming. The more the better.

I like women who are overall pretty. Pretty face, nice breasts, nice ass, etc. But when it really comes down to whether or not my relationship with her goes far is my connection with her based on interests and personality.

I agree with >>15. I only like people who take care of themselves. Nice and clean clothes, hair, teeth, etc. When it comes to personality, I prefer the mysterious types. C:

OTB

For me they have to have a sense of humor, and not a bitch. Pardon my language but that is the best description I an think of.

Someone who is smart and independent, hot of course. Also has to be a good fighter. I f i ever met a chick who could fight that would be instant :D. Also has to be civil and open minded

So i am a girl

In my opinion it depends on the guy for what they are looking for but it seems in this generation with the females getting more loose and trashy and guys are either kind of settling with what they 'think' they can get or find that kind of girl attractive for the things they can get from her like sex.

For the ones that find the non-trashy bitches it might be the link that they receive from the compatibility of both of their personalities.... Also i find that guys want to be needed as a protector and a safe guard from the 'evil' per say

So there you go a girls opinion :D

It's the shape of a woman.

A girl who can be independent, funny, fun, energetic, doesn't take shit from anyone, says what she believes, and is good looking. Perfect girl right there.

I like boobs and ass. And dumb blondes.

I think the ideal boy would be:
smart,cool,good-looking,independant,funny,sly and curious about life.But most of all,I think that the ideal boyfriend would be someone who loves me for who I AM and not for my body my boobs,ass etc.I know a boy like that is really hard to find ,but still,that's my opinion...