Some think that symmetry indicates good health and resistence to
sickness, and then neurons evolved around this stability and, walla,
men and woment "like" it. This might spill over into other areas of
life?
Symmetry, or the exact match of the left and right sides of the body,
is important to the attractiveness of both sexes. Both sides of the
face should be exact mirror images of each other. Kevin Costner has a
far more symmetrical face than Lyie Lovett and thus Costner is
considered better looking. Careful investigations by biologist Randy
Thornhill and his colleagues at the University of New Mexico at
Albuquerque have shown that people with symmetrical faces generally
have symmetrical bodies.
Bodily symmetry is an esthetic cue used to assess the biological
fitness of potential mates among other species. For example, research
on swallows, which have forked tails, has shown that females prefer to
mate with males having symmetrical tails. Asymmetry is caused by
interference with normal development, which might be due to poor
nutrition early in development or might reflect the impact of viruses.
Symmetrical animals have superior biological qualities either because
they experienced a favorable early environment or because their immune
systems were effective at warding off viruses and other pathogens.
Swallows and people attracted to mates with symmetrical bodies acquire
a superior immune system for their offspring.
This explains why women should be attracted to highly symmetrical men.
Thomhill and his colleagues have discovered that symmetrical men have
more sex partners, and even that women get more excited during
intercourse with these physically attractive men. Symmetrical men
produce a pheromone (or airborne hormone) that is more attractive to
women than the secretions of less symmetrical men, suggesting that
women's attraction to men is based on assessment of biological fitness
through different sensory channels. Men's biological quality declines
with age, which is reflected in declining facial symmetry, for
example. This may have important implications for off- spring. Thus,
declining sperm quality of older men increases the risk of Down
syndrome and other chromosomal disorders.
The Science of Romance - by Nigel Barber
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573929700/
