Physical attractiveness is the degree to which a person's physical traits are considered aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often impliessexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, adults may regard children as attractive for various reasons. There are many factors which influence one person's attraction to another, with physical aspects being one of them. A 1921 study of the reports of college students regarding those traits in individuals which make for attractiveness and repulsiveness argued that static traits, such as beauty or ugliness of features, hold a position subordinate to groups of physical elements like expressive behavior, affectionate disposition, grace of manner, aristocratic bearing, social accomplishments, and personal habits. The photographs of those subjects were independently rated, and Rikowski and Grammer found that both males and females were more attracted to the natural scent of individuals who had been rated by consensus as facially attractive.[44] Additionally, it has also been shown that women have a preference for the scent of men with more symmetrical faces, and that women's preference for the scent of more symmetrical men is strongest during the most fertile period of their menstrual cycle.
