Valentine's day has come and gone. It is a day where a lot of us can express how much we care about the people in our lives. And for the rest of us, it is a day where we get to see how many people seem to be in love but us and maybe get the occasional Valentine from our parents- thanks again mom. This made me think about the idea of attraction. What makes someone attracted to someone else? Since it is the week of love I wanted to ask around and see what made an individual attracted to someone else. So first I created a questionnaire that asked both men and woman what they found attractive. Whether they are attracted to a certain height, hair color, personality trait, etc. This is what I found.

Of course, it's easy to list off everything you are looking for in a potential boyfriend/girlfriend but what if you had to only choose three? The three biggest personality traits that people were most attracted to were people who are funny, honest, and kind. Honestly, we'd be waiting a long time if we set a list of expectations for someone to meet, so why not just come up with the most important you can't live without?

Next, I asked them their height and what height they looked for in a significant other. Half of the men that took the survey and were between 5’8-5’11 marked that they preferred a significant other that was taller than them 5’7 and up. The rest were between 5’6 and 5’11 and preferred someone four to five inches shorter than them. I found this really interesting because we often think that men prefer someone who is shorter than them and it doesn’t seem to be the case.

All of the women who took the survey with the exception of one wrote that they preferred someone who is taller than them. Women who were between 4’7 and 5’2 marked their preferred height to be around eight inches above their height. Women between 5’4 and 5’6 preferred a significant other around five inches taller. Women 5’7 and above preferred someone three inches above their height. This was not as surprising to see but I was interested in the fact that women seem to be more conscious of their height than men are.

When you meet someone there are two factors you observe, their looks and their style. I wondered what people found most important. A majority of people thought a person's looks were more important than their sense of style.

Of course, I had to ask the question people argue about the most. I believe that there has to be an attraction to have a relationship with someone. I feel like if I love their personality but am not physically attracted to them then they are just a friend. To some it might feel shallow but why not have both? Over half that took the survey were attracted by a persons looks before their personality but it was a close call.

This made me think about people who go out with individuals based on their personality and whether they later became attracted to them. A majority said that they have never gone out with someone they weren’t attracted to. Several people said that they had and that they later became attracted to them. While a few others said that they had gone out with people they were not attracted to but did not become attracted to them. One wrote that after they had broken it off the attraction was lost.

Not surprising that most people prefer someone that is easy to talk to and openly friendly, but there are still some people that are interested in others who keep to themselves.

This is for my men out there, don’t be afraid to express emotions, most women and men shared that they rather have someone who isn’t afraid to share their emotions.

I personally am a huge planner, but I can also see the appeal of someone who can sweep you off your feet. Most people seemed to prefer spontaneity over someone who likes to think things through.

This is one of the questions I was most interested in. Most were attracted to people who expressed affection in public but there were still a few that enjoyed intimacy in private. I think little moments of affection are wonderful, no need to do too much but every now and then it should be encouraged.

Next, I was interested in what most people found to be the most attractive features on a person's face. I usually wonder what is the first thing someone notices about me when they first meet me. I am always drawn to a person’s smile when I first meet them. The top three answers were eyes, smile, and jaw-line.

Then the most attractive feature on a person's body. Not that everyone is the most confident in how they look, but we should all be comfortable in our own skin. We all have something that our eyes are drawn to when we meet someone we might be interested in, for me, it's a guys shoulders. The top three answers people chose were arms, back, and ass (not surprising).

When you see someone that you are interested in a lot of the time we are not sure whether to make the first move or wait for them to show interest so my next question was whether people preferred to make the first move or wait to be approached. The majority favored someone else making the first move through a few marked that they like when their significant other makes them work for it, some people like a little challenge.

Lastly, I thought it would be interesting to see what are some people’s biggest dating deal breakers. Sometimes even if we find someone who seems like a keeper they can do something that can turn us off. Here are some dating don’ts:

• “If this person is just an overall mean person, no matter how attractive you are you'll just become ugly (inside and out)”
• “They have to be able to have deep conversations.”
• “No Trump supporters”
• “Must not be obsessed with Sex”
• “Must respect others/their homes/things”
• “Annoying laugh”
• “Is lowkey an asshole behind doors”

Thank you to everyone who took my survey and Happy Valentine's day.