Dr Alverston Bailey, Contributor 
This week, we will explore the mystery of physical attraction.
As humans, we are often perplexed by the inexplicable attraction we feel for someone, but cannot really fathom the cause for such intense allure.
However, anthropologists and psychologists believe they have the answer to why we fancy someone. Physical attractiveness is the perception of the physical traits of an individual as pleasing, attractive, cute or beautiful.
The criteria you use to determine attraction is informed by your culture or individual taste. Interestingly, attractive people are assumed to be extroverts, popular, and happy and they do tend to have these characteristics. However, this is probably due to a self-fulfilling prophecy since from a young age, attractive people receive more attention which helps them develop these characteristics.
Physical attractiveness can also bear some real fruits. A survey conducted by London Guildhall University of 11,000 people, showed that those who subjectively describe themselves as physically attractive earn 13 per cent more income than others who described themselves as less attractive.
Physical attractiveness also have a profound effect on how people are judged in terms of employment or social opportunities, friendship, sexual behaviour and marriage. In many cases, we attribute positive characteristics, such as intelligence and honesty to attractive people without even realising it.
Which men do women find attractive?
A V-shaped torso
Research has found that male physiques with slim waists and broad shoulders are rated as being attractive, particularly by females. Chest muscularity resulted in slightly higher attractiveness ratings. Preference can also emerge for muscularity, though research performed at McLean Hospital has shown that Western men have a tendency to overestimate the amount of muscle considered ideal by women by as much as 30 pounds.
A normal level of the hormone testosterone is a possible indicator of good sexual health. In the absence of normal testosterone levels, a man may exhibit physical symptoms of less muscle development and physical height reduction. For women across the world, the one near-universal sexually attractive feature of a man is therefore a V-shaped torso: a relatively narrow waist offset with broad shoulders.
Tall
Female's sexual attraction towards a male may also be determined by the height of the man. Women tend to prefer males who demonstrate confidence, physical strength and a powerful bearing. This preference can be explained by evolutionary psychology since ancestral women who were attracted to tall, physically powerful men benefited from better protection and therefore gained evolutionary fitness.
It is also well known that height in men is associated with status in nearly all cultures, which is beneficial to women romantically involved with them. An article published in the Cosmopolitan magazine states that women are most attracted to men who are 1.1 times their own height.
In addition, it was found that women have different preferences for height, depending on the phase of their menstrual cycle.
A man who smells like her father!
We like the look and smell of people who are most like our parents!
In 1995, Claus Wedekind of the University of Bern, in Switzerland, asked a group of women to smell some unwashed T-shirts worn by different men. What he discovered was that women consistently preferred the smell of men whose immune systems were different from their own.
At the University of Chicago, Dr Martha McClintock has shown in her own sweaty T-shirt study that what women want most is a man who smells similar to her father.
These scientists suggest that a woman being attracted to her father's genes makes sense. A man with these genes would be similar enough that her offspring would get a tried and tested immune system. On the other hand, he would be different enough to ensure a wide range of genes for immunity.
This parallels what happens with rodents, who check out how resistant their partners are to disease by sniffing their pheromones. Human pheromones are odourless chemicals detected by an organ in the nose. Some scientists believe they could be the key to choosing a suitable lover.
Which women do men find attractive?
The determinants of female physical attractiveness include those aspects that display health and fitness for reproduction and sustenance such as youth, waist-hip ratio, mid upper arm circumference, body mass proportion and facial symmetry.
Young and fertile
Since a woman's reproductive value declines steadily with age after 20, evolutionary selection has favoured men who are attracted to youth in a mate. One study across 37 cultures showed men desire, on average, a woman 2.5 years younger than themselves for a wife with men in Nigeria and Zambia at the far extreme, desiring their wives to be 6.5 to 7.5 years younger. As men age, they also desire a larger age gap from their mates.
This preference for youth has also led to a preference of youthful-appearing features such as full lips, clear, smooth skin, clear eyes, lustrous hair and good muscle tone. Large breasts have also been shown to be attractive to men in Western societies, with the explanation that larger breasts will more explicitly show the ageing process, hence an 'honest' indicator of fertility.
Short physical stature
Most males exhibit a preference for females of shorter physical stature than themselves, and some studies indicate that women of below average height have greater reproductive success. An advantage to smaller size may be that smaller size may be seen as more youthful, and males find paedomorphic characteristics in females attractive. Another possible explanation is that shorter females may reach sexual maturity earlier than their taller counterparts.
It is obvious that the reason we fancy someone is buried deep in our genes and is primarily driven by the need to propagate our species and to maximise the chance of a long and satisfying relationship.
Dr. Alverston Bailey is a medical doctor and immediate past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica. Send comments and questions to: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax:922-6223.
