180) Laws of Attraction

Tonight at dinner, the topic of whether males or females are better able to disassociate physical appearance from personality came up. Think about it. If you saw a cute girl or guy across the room, but then heard from a friend that (s)he was an asshole, would their level of attractiveness be affected?

The generalization would be that men are better able to consider looks and personality separately, and thus, their perception of how good a girl looks wouldn't be affected by rumblings of douchebaggery. Women, it is said, have a harder time considering looks and personality as two separate entities. Biologically, this would make sense. If men are all about spreading their seed, and women are looking for a mate that will stick around, then personality should carry more weight in the female mind.

What makes this tricky is the complicated dynamics of casual male-female relations. We're not necessarily talking about wanting to get into relationship here. Or are we? Can we separate the want to hook up with the want to date? I think men have this down to an art (again, a generalization), but women subconsciously think relationship potential in every encounter.

A lot of musing tonight, but little conclusion. My cousin Iris and I have been talking in circles about it. She suggested some in the field research. Smart girl.