by Tom Lee ’14

From full-on stare downs to shy peeps, crushes to formal relationships, attraction is an omnipresent aspect of students’ lives and physical appeal plays a huge role in that attraction.

Jena Prescott, author of the bestseller “The Love High Story,”noted that,”It may take as little as 13 milliseconds to be attracted to another person.” Contrastingly, it takes about 200 milliseconds for a human being to realize he or she is attracted to someone. Body language, smiling, laughing, eye contact and more can also increase the perceived attractiveness of an otherwise rather plain individual in the first moments of contact.

Paul Eastwick, a professor of social-psychology at Texas A&M University, found that the subconscious part of the brain often focuses on physical appearance than does the conscious part. “What we found was that what people say they want does a poor job of predicting what actually appeals to them,” stated Eastwick in a study.

Although physical and personal attraction is personalized, research shows basic biological impulses drive sexual interests. Kate Blankenmeyer, a graduate student at St. Louis University, stated in a high school publication that, “in general, men and women are attracted to traits that help us successfully reproduce and pass on our genes.”

Eastwick confirms that males are attracted to females who have traits reflecting good health. Big foreheads, big eyes and small-button noses are deemed to be attractive features by men because they resonate youth. A lower waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is ideal. According to a study at Harvard University, a lower WHR indicates higher estrogen levels, which is associated with higher fertility. That explains why many consider Beyoncé to be “hotter” than Kiera Knightly.

Blankenmeyer said most that women are choosier with men. They tend to like men who appear protective. According to the same Harvard study, a pronounced jaw, broad shoulders, facial hair, structured face and narrow hips are most desirable.

Averageness and attractiveness have a direct relationship. As the averageness of the face increases, so does the attractiveness. “We have found that averaging several faces together using a computer program results in a face more appealing than any of the component faces,” stated Blankenmeyer.

“Students are not necessarily looking for their soul mates so looks play a much bigger factor in high school romance,” said Eastwick. People are more attracted to  those in the same groups or social classes due to increased contact and interaction. This especially applies to high schoolers for they see each other five times a week.

“What you are looking for in the teens is different from what you are seeking later in life,” said Eastwick. In the early years of dating, love can easily be replaced with lust. With raging hormones and impulsive minds, teenagers can be more into physical appearance than anything else.

Nevertheless, attraction is unique to each individual, and teenagers also do pay attention to personality. Even though experiments and experts support these biological, physical and emotional foundations for attraction, there is no universal definition of beauty.