How important are looks?

......seriously? How important do you think it is to be good looking? Do you think you have to be fairly attractive to succeed in life? And what, do you think, is the difference between being good looking and attractive?- personally, I think that those two things are really rather unrelated.

So go for it! And feel free to vent your frustration and feelings about any injustness when it comes to how someone looks!



(*ahem* I don't actually know if this is in the right place - someone please say if it isn't )

It's not really that important. Sure, they help with first impressions, but I like people regardless of what they look like.

The difference between good-looking and attractive? Hmm. I think I usually use good-looking as a step higher than attractive. Dunno why, though.

You certainly don't have to be good looking to be attractive, I think. In relationships, I don't think it's important how someone looks, so certainly not in any other circumstances. I find my boyfriend attractive because of his personality, not his looks. (I find him so attractive I feel the need to drop him into every conversation...)
So unless you're a model, I don't think it's important to be good looking. Although depending how you define attractiveness, people are drawn to attractive people. I guess that's a pretty obvious thing to say, really.

Looks are important when it comes to finding a job (employers like to see a clean, well-put-together, and tailored person) or finding a prom date. I'm sure there are other times when good looks come in handy, but there are more times when a sparkling personality matters more. Making friends, finding a soul-mate (or just someone to date...), getting along in the workplace, home, and school, working with people on a project... the list goes on. So, while looks can make a difference, they aren't the be all and end all.

Attractive is a matter of personality and looks together--a means of making one person drawn to another.
Good looking just has to do with looks...

I think you underestimate the importance of physical features in the world today; just because we might be able to look at it objectively from here doesn't mean it is irrelevent in society.

We were studying Crime and Deviance in Psychology - it's amazing how much the attractiveness of a woman on trial reduces the jail sentance she's given.

There are all sorts of little unconscious responses we make depending on a person's physical features; I think there's much more than that to anyone, certainly in a relationship, but I also won't discout the effects they have.

I actually think that, unless you enter a profession (such as screen acting, modeling, etc.) in which looks are basically everything, good looks are a hinderance. I mean, when a good-looking person gets asked out, how can they know if the other person in simply interested in their physical appearance or if they really want to get to know them? Also in getting a job, employers DO like put-together people, but sometimes they avoid hiring good-looking people because of the potential problems it could cause among their other employees. There are times it can help and times it can hinder... I guess that if you're not good-looking you make the best of it and vice versa.

Looks are important for finding a mate, but not decidedly so. For the most part, it doesn't matter at all. Life must have more of a foundation than one would have on looks alone. People change as they get older, looks never stay the same. So, while looks are a hook, personality is more important.

Ahhhh! My thread at last... Tudo that.

I have to disagree that looks will hinder performance, but they can be deceptive. You bring upon the subject of the workplace; do you have experience to justify that statement? To even get an interview you must pass the threshold with your resume. So it's not like you are deceptively sneaking any position dishonestly, unless you forge those papers too. And what of it? You are a good-looking male/female in a management position for support at a software company. How will this 'hinder' you while actively responding and initiating relations with your co-workers? Because they are jealous of you? Because they may like you? This is the business world. Not to propagate sexual and/or emotional relationships. You just have your priorities backwards if you hunt for your 'soul-mate' while trying to look over those memos.

What happens when someone is being lustful because you are good-looking? It's called one-nite-stands. End of story. But seriously. That's just your ability to spot the nots; if you find yourself in a situation that you know isn't just for long-term commitments, then drop it. I could switch it around and say that the less good-looking-ones are at a hindrance because one could think of them as an easier target to 'get with'. While society may look up towards the positives and better examples, and wish. Society cannot hide the fact that it is just a lust for sexual interactions; in due time, the individual will 'lower' their bar and try for the less positive, image wise.

Attractive? That's a broader characteristic. Could mean as physical image, could mean as a personality trait, could mean a person as a whole. But it also tells us there is a defiant positive pull towards the individual, which is more desirable then just being 'good-looking'. Being good looking does not insure the better outcomes in relationships, only increases the probability. Attractive at a more sensual level, means that they are naturally felt good when in their presence. It insures relation interaction in a positive manner. Hands down attraction is more suitable being a key trait for success in life. Good-looking soup operas? We have the celebrities for that.

~Z

I think I saw a poll on TV where only like 24% of people think thin women are more attractive. That was a little encouraging, lol.

I think good looks may help you in some areas - in high school, the good-looking kids usually have more friends (although the quality of those "friends" is questionable) and therefore seem to have more confidence. However, once you're out of high school and away from those shallow cliques, being attractive is far more important. I define being attractive as having a personality others enjoy. Outgoing, fun to be with, etc. Usually if you think someone is attractive, your views on their looks increase as well.

Anyway, my point is, I think you can be far more successful if you are attractive than if you are good-looking. Looks aren't everything, and sometimes good looks turn people away if they think you're a certain type of person (cheerleader, prep, etc.).

The importance of being good-looking fades away after school, I would think. (The pretty people can keep their 47-second relationships, thank you very much! ) Not saying that good-looking people can't have long-lasting relationships, just saying that "the good-looking people" in my school are 'going out' with someone one day, and then going out with someone else the next...

Anyway, good looks are obsolete in the end. (By "in the end," I mean both the outcomes of relationships AND when you're old and your chins sag to your feet. XD)

Good-looking is a healthy person that neither looks bulging nor starved.

Attractive is anyone who wears a smile.

Beauty and attractiveness are relative, but still important. I know that especially guys tend to have certain physical features that they look for in someone of the opposite gender... and then they fall in love and realize it didn't really matter anyway.

Being clean and well-groomed, to use a strange word that sounds like you're a dog, is very important. If you never take showers, or dress like you don't care, it really sends across bad vibes to everyone, especially prospective employers.

Beauty is not everything but it is alto. Yes, you may get ugly but when you do so does everyone else, the more attractive people are the better start they have on being less ugly than the crowd. I think eventually ugliness will die out or possible the ugly people will only be able find only ugly mates, causing a new hideous race of people. Being attractive has no impact on your ability to get a job (if two men with identical credentials applied for a job but one had twenty chins while the other had one, who would more likely get picked?), nor does it make you shallow. I know I would not marry a pretty face with nothing behind it, yet nor would i marry a horrible face with a sparkling personality.

Well duh, your an ---------- if you think looks have absolutly nothing to do with anything at all.

Go ask a homeless shoddy unbathed person out on a date to get to know them. I mean its the personality right?
Vision is the first form of "filter".
Im sure you know that pimply dude in the corner with his friends has a great personality.

Secondly, your hormones and your brain will subconsciously choose "the mate with the best genes".
The ability to nurse children for the female and the ability to protect the family for the male.

That means women in shape, not over weight or under weight.

For men, it could mean their strength and work, but nowadays it could mean "nerds" (used loosly) who can earn a ton of money.

So try as you might, unless your blind looks do matter, to an extent.

Excuse me, but I DATE the pimply nerd in the corner, kthx.
Or at least dream of dating, or something along those lines...

The point being, the things you're bringing up, Sponson, are superficial. And quite frankly, if some guy doesn't want to date me because my behind isn't the right size, then it's his loss. While you might not want to date the uberly skinny girl, she might fill out in time. Or the homeless person who who reeks of a lack of bathing might clean up reeeeeal well when given a bar of soap (true story.)

Things change, and people will be all the wiser to realize that personality is the better bet. Unfortunately, you're right. Some people don't realize that until after the fact...