Appearance and looks are important, no one can deny that. For example, women try to improve their beauty by wearing flattering and even flashy outfits and by covering themselves with makeup.
Those deemed the most attractive tend to have more people interested in them and tend to attract more friends than the average joe. All in all, are attractive people more happy? Some might say no, but one study suggests that there's a psychological advantage for attractive people.
According to this study from the University of Georgia and the University of Kansas, “attractive people do tend to have more social relationships and therefore an increased sense of psychological well-being,”
However, this fact of attraction does not happen everywhere, according to the study. Those living in rural areas don’t care as much about attraction and will generally want to be friends with those in nearby areas. Those who are attractive in these areas do not generally have more friends or feel better based on that physical aspect.
In urban areas, there seems to be more of a focus on attractiveness, according to the study. Since there are many people in cities, more people tend to flock to those who are attractive. Therefore, attractive people tend to have more friends and feel better about themselves.
Though this sounds a bit depressing, one of the researchers, Victoria Plaut, tries to diminish this harsh aspect of the study. “The importance of attractiveness varies with certain sociocultural environments," she said. If you think about it, urban environments are actually a relatively recent addition to human life."
It’s understandable that appearance are an important factor in a potential partner especially when it comes to intimacy and life-long relationships. However, I think that friendships shouldn’t be defined by good or bad looks. More important factors like personality, intelligence, morals, values and generosity should be taken into consideration.
Sources:
www.physorg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news180098203.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200611/friendship-the-laws-attraction