Should Physical Attraction be a Mate Selection Criterion?
In today’s society, most people use physical attraction as their only way to decide if they should start a relationship. This notion is reinforced constantly by our media and leads to large numbers of shallow, dysfunctional and ultimately failed relationships. However, when you ask couples having been successfully married for many years what have led to their success, they rarely list physical attraction as one of the core factors. So, should physical attraction be a mate selection criterion?
I do believe that physical attraction should be one of the mate selection criteria because as human beings, we are made to feel physical attraction and it is very hard to motivate us to start a relationship without any “spark”. However, physical attraction should rank lower on our list of selection criteria due to the fact that we grow old every day and cannot keep our physical appearance to look good forever. Only our internal beauty can last forever.
When I say internal beauty, I mean good personality and character of a person. Even if you can meet and develop a relationship with the most beautiful person without any good personality and character in the world, I can guarantee that this relationship cannot last long.
A “great person” may not be a “great person for you” unless they meet your needs and desires in a partner. You should not feel guilty about your lack of physical chemistry with a “great person”. You should act compassionately by letting this person know that there is no physical chemistry so that he/she can find someone who does find him/her physically appealing.