The classic saying goes “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” which highlights the subjectivity of every human being when it comes to looks.

But some people can be widely considered as attractive or not (thanks to popular culture and the media) with good-looking people getting the most attention in the dating world.

Although many people are hesitant to admit it, physical attractiveness is the initial selling point of the beginning of romantic encounters. However, personality is the key to telling if a person is right for you or not.

So, how relevant are a person’s looks in the world of relationships?

People tend to look for partners according to what they deem beautiful or handsome and shy away from those who do not fit their ideal description.

That initial attraction determines whether a person will be approached or not and sets the precedent for future interactions between two people. Sometimes compatibility isn’t enough to foster a relationship; clicking with a person’s personality is the foundation of friendship, so physical attraction is the key to distinguishing between friends and lovers.

A common misconception is that men are more focused on looks than women because men tend to be driven more by sex whereas women are more driven by emotions.

Many women will say that personality is way more important than looks and that looks don’t matter if they have found the right person for them. People who place importance on physical attractiveness are usually labelled shallow but realistically they are just agreeing with their innate sexual desires. Men and women equally respond differently to attractive people than others as it’s embedded in human nature.

Attractive people are the ones who get hit on the most at nightclubs, they get flirted with the most at restaurants by the waiters and they seem to get away with more than the average person just for being attractive. This doesn’t necessarily mean that people who are not so gifted in the looks department will never be approached or will never find love. No one can deny the importance of personality in a relationship and usually what happens is the more you get to know someone, the more their personal qualities that you find attractive add to their sexual appeal.

The foundations of a solid relationship do involve being sexually attracted to your partner, but the way you establish an emotional connection with someone is their unique personality that synchronizes with yours. Looks are subjective after all and the way a person presents themselves can instantaneously affect if others perceive them as attractive or not.

Looks aren’t everything; the prettiest people can have the dullest of personalities. Eventually, people come across someone who is attracted to every aspect of their person, inside and out.