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If there is one question that can divide, it would be this: what is a sexy person? Everyone will have their own reading grid to define it and yet, there are common criteria since every year, magazines elect the sexiest man (or woman) on the planet. Here are the ones, according to a study.
The magazine People has made it his specialty: each year, he reveals the ranking of the sexiest male personality. It began in 1985, with the coronation of Mel Gibson. Unsurprisingly, Brad Pitt was elected twice, in 1995 and in 2000. More recently, it was Idris Elba who found himself on the first step of this podium, in 2018 and this year, it is Patrick Dempsey who comes first.
Looking at the elected figures, the first thing that jumps out at you is that they do not resemble each other, from a physical point of view. Scientists therefore wanted to know what made it possible to classify different people according to this criterion, which is quite subjective.
“Sex appeal is in the eye of the beholder” explains Blanca Cobb, a body language expert, to our colleagues at HuffPost. “Some people are attracted to the physical attributes of the face, the voice can be considered sexy based on pitch, tone and intonation. Someone might find another person’s smell sexy. Additionally, warm, open, and confident body language can be a source of arousal” she explains.
Scientists looked more specifically at the issue and at being “sexually suggestive or arousing.” Thus, they were able to determine that it was in fact a purely biological reaction. Our primal instinct is to find someone with favorable physical attributes attractive, with the goal of perpetuating and preserving our species.
For example, according to Kelsey Latimer, an American psychologist, “There are many theories that focus on cultural aspects or evolutionary factors such as the ‘curvature’ of the hips in women, a symbol of fertility. Other studies have shown that we are more attracted to what we see the more, which means that attraction is made up of biological factors and acquired“.
On the other hand, the notion of physical beauty is not universal, but rather specific to each person, so we cannot classify a sexy person based on that.
The role of personality
Still according to Kelsey Latimer, “evolutionary theories allow us to understand that physical attraction is important because it makes us want to reproduce, which keeps the species alive“.
But this argument is not immutable, it can even vary over time. This is why, beyond the physical, a person’s personality makes the difference. It’s not a dazzling smile or impeccable hairstyle that will make a person sexy. The traits most associated with this characteristic are rather character traits such as humor, self-confidence or kindness.
A study, carried out in 2017 at Simon Fraser University, in Canada, confirms these elements by revealing that “confidence in the way one speaks and acts can be attractive and charisma can captivate someone’s attention because it reflects charm, magnetism and social intelligence“.
The most telling example is this: you may have already met someone whom you considered ordinary in terms of physical appearance and, after getting to know him or her, you suddenly realized that he or she had a big smile or beautiful eyes? According to the American psychologist, who cites this example, “this is not a coincidence. Personality can absolutely change the initial feeling of attraction to the positive or negative.”
And what are the criteria that make you find a sexy person?
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