Birds of a Feather Flock Together

I was drifting aimlessly on the net this afternoon when David greeted me on msn. Like so many other humans our age, he was troubled with feelings of the heart recently as well. He was being so negative it was unusual considering his gregarious and jolly nature.

Come to think of it, I felt the same way as well. Some people are just so perfect. They have good looks, nice bod, an angelic personality to match, coupled with intelligence and charisma, not to mention the extra cash stuffed in their pockets. You start treating these people with a love and hate attitude. While you become jealous of their possessions, they are also great friends to be with and some inadvertently become objects of desire.

I know no one is perfect but I am like SO not perfect and it troubles me from time to time. It makes you feel limited in what you can offer to your partner, to the extent that you become scared of being an embarassment. It is never easy finding someone who likes you for who you are.

For my friends having relationship problems, and so many of you are, I shall deliver a psychology lesson on attractiveness. What exactly determines attractiveness?

A reason why ugly people do not remain single forever is due to the Matching Hypothesis. It is the prediction that people will seek partners who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness (Nevid, 2003).

To put it simply, beautiful people get beautiful partners while ugly people will seek ugly people for companion. That is why Hagrid, the giant in Harry Potter, still finds romance in a gigantic school mistress.

Sometimes, I wonder if the beautiful people make more beautiful babies and ugly people make uglier babies and in time to come, it will widen the gap between beautiful people and ugly people? Perhaps the government could pair the ugly with the beautiful to reduce this disparity? (It's amazing what nonsense people can churn when they are bored ya?)

So does that mean that if you are ugly, you have to make do with an obese girlfriend? Not neccessarily so, because in the case of mismatches that refutes the matching hypothesis, the less attractive partner usually compensates by having greater wealth or social position than the more attractive partner (Berscheid & Reis, 1998).

To put it simply, if you are ugly, you had better be rich.

One key to attractiveness is symmety. Faces having symmetrical and regular features are universally perceived as more attractive (Buss & Kenrick, 1998).

Well, does that mean that if I have a mole near the left side of my nose, I should fake another one on the other side? Perhaps guys should start piercing their right ear too...

People like women to have faces with more feminine features. Surprisingly, both men and women generally found male faces with more feminine features to be more attractive (Angier, 1998b).

That explains the F4 phenomenon. Ugly men need not go for cosmetic surgery, a cheaper alternative would be to leave your hair long. (To hide the face that is.)

Another factor is that of proximity. Proximity increases the chances of interacting with others and getting to know them better, thus providing a basis for developing feelings of attraction toward them (Nevid, 2003).

So if you really like someone, stick to him/her like a parasite and engage in their activities. Birds of a feather DO flock together. And don't forget to leave your hair long as well.

PS. Regarding my previous post which has caused so much trauma to many people, I shall clarify: I DID NOT HAVE SEX. Not unprotected at least. Just kidding!