The Science of Sex Appeal

When it comes to sex appeal towards another person, many people think it's only based on the other person's looks. But there is a science to why we find another person as attractive and is even sexually appealed towards them. A lot of the reasons are based on genetics and how our ancestors chose the best mate to survive and grow. For example, the symmetry in a person's face is a factor. If there is an odd deformity in someone's face because it is asymmetrical, there is less of an attraction due to a worry of a lack in physical and genetic health. Another example of attraction to another person is their voice. When a study was performed where male volunteers listened and rated the attractiveness of 10 female voices, those 10 different voices only came from 4 different females. There were different ratings from the males of 2 voices coming from the same female. This is because a female's voice changes in pitch during ovulation when they are most fertile. But it's not all just genetics that influences whether or not a person is attracted to someone else. If the person is mentally aware that they are being watched and judged based off of attractiveness, that person will then alter how they present themselves to make them seem they are more attractive. For example, when a study was performed where a group of males and females were told to walk on a treadmill while being filmed, half of them received an explanation that they were going to be analyzed on their walking motion for its efficiency using a computer algorithm. With the other half, they received an explanation that their video recording of their walking will be shown to other people to evaluated the test subject's sexual attractiveness. With the test group that was explained they were tested for walking efficiency, the women had very subtle and normal hip movements and the men had their shoulders and chest relaxed. On the other hand, the test group that was explained they were being evaluated on their sexual attractiveness, the women swayed their hips more and the men puffed out their chest, had swaggering shoulders, and their arms were slightly farther away from their body. This shows that when we are conscious about being evaluated on our attractiveness, we tend to exaggerate our movements.