Top 10 Reasons Why Physical Appearance Is So Important?

Looks matter a lot in many situations. If you look good, you feel good. Every person wants to look his best. Physical appearance does affect your overall personality. Those who are fortunate to be born beautiful or handsome have the edge over others in their public dealings.

Businesswoman applying makeup

People all over the world spend millions of dollars to look good. They undergo plastic surgery, visit the beauty parlour regularly, and undergo herbal treatments to improve their physical appearance. Why so?

Why One Needs to Look Good?

  • To impress people in social situations.
  • To look one’s best in the workplace, where one deals with the public. For example, film stars have to look gorgeous and handsome.
  • One feels good if one looks good.
  • A physically attractive person attracts a lot of people.
  • It helps in building up relationships. A handsome boy attracts a lot of girls. Similarly, beautiful girls have much sought after.
  • Physical appearance does matter in a relationship. In a marriage, the partners need to take care of themselves physically to sustain their relationship. Many women face marital problems as they go out of shape after having children. Those women who take care of their physical appearance have a better rapport with their partners.
  • It boosts self-confidence and self-esteem. One feels very reassured when other people admire them and prefer to associate with them as they find them very attractive. In certain professions, looks make a lot of difference. A model has to look his or her best. A good looking salesperson can get noticed quickly.
  • A pleasing face is nice to look at. People like to relax in the presence of beautiful things. A pleasant face can relax the mind. Those with an aesthetic sense like to admire beautiful people and things.
  • An attractive physical appearance enhances personality. It is an added advantage.
  • A physically attractive person, who is well-groomed, can impress upon people. A handsome politician can draw the attention of the masses, although, of course, he also has to be a man of substance. For example, former president John F. Kennedy was known for his looks, although he was an astute politician as well. Looks enhanced his public image.

Every person desires to look good. He or she spends a lot of time trying to look his or her best. A handsome man or a beautiful woman is much admired in society.

52 COMMENTS

  1. Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your site and wanted to say
    that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your posts. Anyway
    I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

    • Really? While I agree philosophically with the premise, I found this article offered absolutely nothing in the way enlightenment. Then, it dawned on me that the author was probably 14 years-old, and all was forgiven. As I scrolled down to the comments I came to the harsh realization that there exists a huge population on-line of people with really low expectations and standards. Wow!

      • It doesn’t mean that you need to be handsome/beautiful in terms of features but the way you present yourself. This is how a person will be perceived and believe it or not, human beings tend to treat another person based on how they present himself/herself.

        • Good looks are THE BEST thing one could ever have.Things like personality,talent,being charitable are nice but are completely dismissed without looks.Princess Diana was below mediocre in talent,and her chaity work was a farce meant for publicity.Yet,the whole world cried more at her death than Mother Teresa.

          People cannot help it.They treat good looking folks far superior for very average accomplishments.If you are good looking life is made for you.To be clear good looking people also have troubles and difficulties,but they get way more sympathy and assistance simply for their looks.

          American President Bill Clinton harrassed numerous women but is still admired and supported by very prominent Feminists no less.An ugly man who merely irritates a woman is sent for life in prison.

          This is life.

          • No. The ones you mentioned are people with power, their looks have little to do with how they are treated. One was royalty and one was a US President.

  2. I agree with most of what you say. However, I think that it is important that you feel good. You might not look good to everyone else, but if you feel good you will be confident. This wiell help you in your social and business life.

    • I agree that it’s important to feel good… But sometimes the thing holding you back is what you see in the mirror.. Sometimes that alone is the reason for someone to be unhappy… I’d say the best solution is to be what you think is beautiful yourself, and not expect it from others because they will have their own idea of beautiful. I think it’d be best if everyone stopped and thought “What do I wish to look like?” and went into detail with the answer. Don’t let media or anything cloud your judgement, because your judgement on yourself is more important than theirs. Think about the things you know you can change and what you can do to make those changes… And on top of that, build on your own personality. It’s like clay waiting for you to shape it, so shape it. You want to sing, go ahead and start practicing. You want to write? Start writing in a journal, notebook… If people would realize it, they’d see that their own body and mind is their very own, and very precious canvas, and whatever message they want to show the world, they can show it through themselves.The “dream you” everyone has isn’t impossible, it just appears that way, but the only way to get there is by working at it… Is your dream you a teacher? A doctor? Maybe a musician? People forget that there is so much they can be, and that’s what it is to truly be beautiful. It’s by being the best YOU that you can be, because no one in the world can do that for you… In short, looks are equally important to personality and vice versa, because through both of them you show who you really are. The “dream you” is more than just looks, and more than just personality, it’s both… And it’s gonna take hard work to get there… But if there’s a will, there will always be a way. 🙂

      • this really made my day. thanks for the encouraging comment that you wrote. Every single words made me reflect myself.i do wonder why i always wanted to be someone else and not me, myself.. why i keep hating to simply being ME.your words are true.. we, human are like canvas. i can shape myself in whatever way that i want.Because i could…with effort

    • People misses all aspects of people all together being caught up in a superficial world and were god is totally upset with the vain and evil these days how people treat one another based on how they look. I thank god for giving me an infirmity that makes me look different but got my heart and mind prepared for jesus.so i hope good looks dont take your soul.

  3. Hey Amit, this top ten list is fantastic. I really like your ideas. It is so true that looks make a huge difference in so many ways, much more than we wish t did, unless you are really beautiful. You can post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and link back to your site. We are trying to create a directory for top ten lists where people can find your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

  4. I agree with your comments especially the ten reasons why physical apearance is very important. I want to add also that one should be cheerful and jovial, for even if you are ugly your cheerfulness will hide those uglyness.

  5. It’s not just physical appearance that many people consider important. Other factors over which they have no real control can affect their lives.

    For example, I once overheard several yuppie sleazeballs talking about a coworker at their company who had a great idea to present to clients, but who also had a speech impediment. They didn’t want her to make the presentation, because she “would project the wrong image,” so they were trying to contrive a way for someone else to present the idea and answer any questions.

    I think this sort of attitude is far more common than we believe and affects us at all times in our lives. Virtually all of the attractive people that I know of want for nothing, and most of those who are too short, too tall, too fat, too thin, too ugly, are weeded out early in life and end up on the periphery.

  6. What would happen to a person who has been distinctively attractive all their life, and then came out of a car accident with a burnt face and couldn’t afford plastic surgery?

    i reckon If they relied purely upon their looks to give them happiness in life, this would be a very sad event indeed.

    Personally i believe that looks and personality are both attractive. However the latter is what people around you are going to deal with for the rest of your life but no matter how good someone looks now, they will soon be old, wrinkly and physically dull.

  7. as for me, looks do not matter if you’d only have the guts. what’s important is your inner self these days. but, we badly need good looks.

    • In a way i agree with you but as you say this, don’t say that the only reason you would like someone is because the are smart and kind. While those traits DO play a role beauty plays a role as well. of course beauty cannot be defined because like they say “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” but looks do matter in a relationship. Yes, many people will define beauty in different ways and maybe their definition will be based mostly on personality. But everybody is attracted to someone because of their looks and you cant really deny that. We all do it and that’s just the way humans are. Though we try not to base our decisions on something as trivial as looks, its a natural instinct, something we simply cannot help. I know you made this comment years ago, but i was looking up why physical appearance is important and i came upon this article and your comment….anyways…that’s a little piece from my mind….. 🙂

  8. Unfortunately, good looks are much more important than a lot of people will give credit for. =(
    But like some people posted, a positive personality could “help” erase insecurity.

  9. The writings above shows much dedication about gorgeous and handsome people. Yea, it is really useful to have a very good physical appearance, but sometimes it doesn’t matter at all, for you also need to be intelligent, there are many aspects in our life that is better to achieve w/o a good appearance. We just to be dedicated, God-fearing, hardworking, and useful to beat the insecurities and and have the guts to be more competitive to succeed.
    But cheer up, your writings really help me about my reaserch on how physical appearance affects..
    God bless

  10. I have been called ugly several times growing up. I have been told I am beautiful but to me beautiful is Angelina Jolie or Megan Fox pre-surgeries. I think of myself as a 6. I wish I had money to fully invest in my looks and another line of work that wouldnt harm my looks. Then I could be an 8. Poverty keeps people ugly cus they dont have money to look their best or breed with the better looking. I wish it didnt have to matter so much but it does. People, especially men, are very shallow. We evolved to mistake confidence with knowledge and beauty with competancy. I have been turned away from several jobs due to my looks and height. I come from a working class family and have to work at becoming successful. Unlike other people who do have things handed to them. I wish looks didnt matter so much but it does. I think the media exaggerates it A LOT. Some people also go out of their way to be mean to unattractive people. I dont feel as beautiful even when Im dressed at my best and feel my best. Its the one thing I hate about being a woman. How its obligatory to be beautiful. I also noticed poor beautiful women move ahead btu the ugly ones stay behind.

    • I’m 19 now and the funny thing is in this age i see my face ugly. Well i didn’t notice that because i always focused on my study.and now that im near to graduate, i’m so so much bothered if i would have a job with this face (poor ugly people ) i hope that they wont judge in my physical appearance and focus to my ability 🙂 i don’t need to be pretty ,(well i admit that i felt jealous when i saw my pretty classmates wearing beautiful dress,wearing makeup, wearing high heels shoes etc. But i need to be contented ,(God give this look so i must be proud ! ) but i hope that after i graduate ,there would be a people that don’t judge my physical look 🙂

      • I want to say that it was very, very hard for me not to judge people based on appearance. It was difficult for me at least. When you see someone beautiful who has amazing body, face and hair it’s just so hard to resist wanting to touch them and you want to be around good looking people so much that you sometimes feel like you love them when actually you love their body. As i said, it was extremely hard to stop judging people (especially girls since i am boy) based on their looks. I kind of struggle to do that even today but i am trying and i think i got over it. EDS, I know you feel so bad when people judges you because of appearance. I am giving you oath that i won’t do that ever again. I won’t judge others based on looks. I wonder if i will ever meet you in real life. You are the first person who i gave oath.

  11. You all sound very superficial right now, you know that? I realized as I grew up the cold fact that appearances unfortunately matter to society, which slapped me hard on the face since I didn’t care about it as a youngster. It’s one of the first things you learn when you become a teenager and hit puberty (fuck puberty). However, just because you’re ugly doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be doomed for lack of success in life; money-wise, relationship-wise, and all that stuff. It might affect your self-esteem and confidence though, which drives being unsuccessful. I would name alot of famous people who aren’t exactly models, (in my point of view only; remember the saying “beauty is only in the eyes of the beholder”? Or something like that), but then that would make me contradict myself. Different people like/are attracted to different styles and appearances, we don’t all have to be robotically ‘attractive’, which the media encourages us to do so fiercely. Some men and women like some if not alot of meat on the bones to find them attractive (mind you I’m not talking about the size of boobs, butts, or penises, because that’s superficial as well) Everyone has their own tastes of external appearances, you just have to find your own personal taste for yourself and not be influenced by TV. I’ll stop ranting now. What I’m trying to say is as much as I hate to admit appearances matter in certain situations like job applications and TV, unfortunately. But don’t get obsessed with it, ‘cuz it’s not the most important thing in the world.

    • Yeah, it is the most important thing in the world.

      Humans are social animals.
      We live in a society where we will be judged 99% based on how we
      look.

      If we are poor and can’t afford plastic surgery and are born
      with shitty genetics we are going to have a shitty life, period.

      Again, we are social creatures, much of our happiness is derived from
      our social relationships, and our social relationships are determined by how we look.

      Basically, the name of the game is be born with good genetics or have a difficult time finding a job and had emotional problems (usually resulted from social problems) and have an over all shitty life.

      Which brings me to my next thought, if, as a society, we punish people just for how they are born (in how we treat them)

      How the fuck are we really much better than the Nazi’s were in our ideas. I guess I’m rather crazy ( I admit that), but honestly, I think people in society should be judged by their behavior, not their genetics.

      When you start judging people (like society always does) based on their genetics instead of actual behavior, regardless if it involved physical appearance or whatever, how is that person or society honestly any better than the typical racist?

      But, I’m not disagreeing with what people are saying here, I fully agree, society does judge people 99% on their physical appearance, I would even venture that society goes to determine who is “good” and who is “bad” based on their physical appearance.

      I guess If you want to be a good person just dress nice. lol joking but that’s all it is. Society determines what morality is or how it is defined.

  12. garbage,
    I can tell you this, I glance in a mirror often less then once a day and mostly to brush my teeth. I just throw on clothes in the morning I don’t care if they match or if they are wrinkled, haven’t had a hair cut in over a year, I have a beard down to the middle of my chest, and honestly probably have more self confidence than most of the people I have ever known. I’m in college and have an gpa of over 3.8. and in name of all the religious people in the world, being vein is against the bible. we aren’t suppose to constantly ponder on the image of how we look and worry about wowing people with our appearance, our goal should never be to look any better than anyone else. It is as simple as this, the reason why all the vein people think that appearance is a big thing is it makes you feel richer than what you really are. society is basing our modern day morals on appearance and amount of money you have as crazy as it sounds. and this is coming from a country where all is suppose to be treated equal, what a joke. If we was all treated as equals why is it you have to go into a place dressed professionally or else they won’t even hear you through.In most cases I would rather trust the homeless man that was willing to give the shirt off his back that made him homeless than corporate america that just wants you to spend your hard earned money in their principals based on being vein and keeping up with the Jones’. We need to go back to our roots and realize that america is falling apart because all these dense morals and standards that people spend all day thinking about rather than thinking about the true issues around us. I would rather have a hideous looking person who knew how to do his job doing any job then a hansom or sexy person who don’t have a clue what their doing.

  13. This post is informative and true, sadly. Yet, I don’t agree that attractive people have more self esteem and confidence deep down. Beauty on the surface means confidence on the surface, so it’s all relative. Deep down, when you really know someone, you find out true confidence and self esteem. To me, there’s a wide gap between one being socially confident,in other words, projecting an image, and being personally confident in values, belief in oneself, ability to think for oneself, etc.

    When someone is attractive they most likely excel socially. But deep down, many of the most attractive people are unhappy and very, very insecure because their time goes to keeping up that “attractive” image. Oftentimes, they lack depth. And when it comes to having lasting relationships, this can be a troublesome area.

    Studies prove that more attractive people are: happier, more financially successful, socially successful, even more intelligent, but it is all in how you define those words on a personal level. Inner happiness is something entirely undervalued and inapparent to many people.

  14. I read down the list of advantages of good looks,& I find it hard to believe. When young, I was always being told that I was very attractive, & never have I experienced any of the perks associated with good looks. I had a very hard time of it indeed, bullied as a teenager, treated with hostility by random strangers, which has me wondering, were all those people who said that I was good looking lying? I look at old photos of myself, & have to say, yes, they were!

  15. This is BULL SHIT. A more attractive person has a better personality?

    Is this a list of (incorrect) facts, or of your personal opinions?

  16. Personally i think we give way too much importance to looks, especially when you commented on how physical appearance helps build up a relationship. Well; relationships based on physical attraction are more bound to end quickly than those that aren’t. Just saying. And there are some very beautiful people which are very shy as well and therefore they just do not attract attention and vice versa; less-pretty people with a lot of self-confidence and self-esteem who just attract people and are well liked because of their personality. If the media stopped publishing barbie-like stereotypes who tell us how we should look like, other values like intelligence or kindness would be given more importance, which they deserve.

  17. I have never read such superficial crap trap in all my life. By all means look your best but its not what you look like its what you are as a person that is most important. I constantly hear stories about women who find themselves attracted to super good looking men who turn out to be psychopaths. My partner is not the most physically beautiful person but he is sincere and kind and I love him for that.I agree with Hm dont get obsessed with “beauty” (everyone’s notion of beauty is different anyway) because its not the most important thing in the world. And once you are old the good looks fade. Paul Newman famously said he was glad that he was old and his looks were gone so everybody could look beyond his appearance and see him for his acting talents.

  18. OMG this post is sooo ridiculous!! I’ve never been so offended by something so funny. WTF seriously!! People would not have kids (note plural) if they didn’t find their partner attractive after giving birth. The people on here who agree with this shallow drivel need to get some self esteem. Yes people are superficial but that’s their problem. I’d rather be judged by my deeds and work with people who have the right skills not someone who is nice to look at but is mean and is dumb as a rock :/
    The person who sat around thinking up this list needs to get a life and that means getting away from the mirror sweetheart.
    End of story.

  19. This is not true, looks matter to some extent, but mostly for women. For men, physical appearance is somewhat important, but not that much as personality and grit. Look, I’m an attractive guy, I have been told all my life how “beautiful” and how “perfect” i am, by parents and also friends, how good genes I have, mostly because I resemble my mom who has a pretty face. That has led me to believe that that is my main trait and have worked hard in the gym to try to live up to that “perfect” image that everyone took for granted I must have, therefore leading me to construct an image of me that others like to see, not necessarily me, which is utterly wrong. Furthermore, by always believing I’m perfect, I took things for granted and now I’m in a shitty circumstance. My girlfriend left me because everyone was telling me how good I look and how ugly was her, so she had enough and dumped me, so all the things I’ve learned is that, yeah, looks are important for your ego, but the ego is not good if you want to arrive anywhere worthwhile in this life, and everyone seems to have a big ego nowadays and concerned with their image but zero personality and character. I have to construct a personality now and that is way harder than constructing looks, because looks will always be only a shallow representation of a person, and it’s sad to see that society and even parents nowadays care for their children to have looks, rather than brains.

  20. well, i can’t just wait to express my thoughts and my judgement on the good looks you guys are talking about. fist, everybody is created in the image and likeness of God. if we all get to admit this, then we can have equal opportunities in life not considering the looks of one self. Being God fearing, faithful, honest, trustworthy… name them,
    are the factors everybody should consider, eg. in job sectors.
    one may ask, how are we gonna tell that one is honest, trustworthy, god fearing and the like, i will tell you that, observe their behavior,listen to their communication, are they reliable ie can they keep a promise, are they self centered ie. people who only care about themselves etc. lets not only dwell on the good looks, we could be preventing very important people in the society who could be of benefit to our society to express and speak out their views. am not against those who look good coz i also feel that am good-looking not only from my views but also from other peoples views. thenx for reading.

  21. This is also the dumbest, most superficial bullshit that I have ever read in my life. Yes, being good looking does confer advantages, but we’ve designed our society to think like that. Biology does to override everything. If we put regular looking people on TV screens, we would not think as highly of beauty. I’d rather marry a wonderful man than a hot, vapid man. I would rather have a lifelong friend with warts on her face than a swimsuit model.

  22. i hate God coz he make me born ugly .among al my frnds m d most ugliest one. evn doubi act to be confident my face doesn’t lok lik confident.
    wat mistake hv i done dat God make me ugly.
    i lost my gf just coz m ugly thn her persent bf.
    i realy hate God for making me ugly.
    m depressed since d day she broke up.
    ths world is onli for d people who hv huge money,handsome, healthy.
    i hate God realy.i ask God to kil me coz i dont wan to live more.

    • You are beautiful. Who knows what other reasons she left you, it doesn’t matter because she did you a favor since it clearly was not meant to be. MAN UP. The only thing that is ugly is that attitude, my friend. Wish you the best and kick ass.

    • I hope and pray that you will see it another way.i realized that beautifulness is broad and wide and this world has so many people in it.what one dont find attractive someone will.just keep ya head i go through the same thing.its about your uniqueness to the world highlight it

  23. dont hate God Jack, He obviously decided that you wouldn’t need ‘good looks’ to bless those around you or be content and comfy in your own skin, and He loves you regardless, that is all that should matter. And this world is nothing compared to what is to come. Thank God for giving you life and blessing you with so many other things I’m sure.
    God doesn’t make mistakes

  24. While it is important to have good looks, it isn’t everything. This post makes it sounds like when you have good looks, you will be a winner in life without doing anything. Life is what we create, character is the most important and long lasting thing that’s far more important than temporary physical appearance.

  25. @Merion .

    what is use of ths life living ugly. i dont ned lik ths ugly life. n i dont thank him for gving me ths life. my life sucks being ugly. n i hate God for dat n wl hate til i die.

    • No one is in this world is ugly. There will always be someone in life who is there for you and thinks your beautiful/handsome. Just remember what is important is inner beauty. That’s your true self your personality. God made you look like that for a reason and everyone has a reason on earth.

    • but our god does not see to our appearence he sees only to our heart, our inner beuty. never lose yourself remember that most of popular characters have not good appearence. this is our personality which determine our life not appearence.

  26. What the hell is this article? and those comments?? Everyone is and I’m not being cute here but EVERYONE is beautiful. We are all unique and beautiful in our own way,there’s only one you in the world and that alone is amazing! Please please people reevaluate your negative thoughts and find beauty in everything. If the people you know are shallow and it makes you self conscious then please know that those group of people that you know do not represent the whole world. There are mature,smart,positive people out there trust me! 🙂 You are beautiful and worth it believe me and there are a LOT more important stuff in the world than physical appearance and worrying about physical appearance. Beauty is in your personality,your heart,your soul. When someone talks to you they are talking to you yourself your brain not your hair or your eyes or whatever. Love yourself and treat yourself right xx

  27. This is a bit of a grey area. Looks DO matter, however it shouldn’t be stressed upon.
    Like the saying goes, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. If surrounded by many attractive people, it’s obvious you wouldn’t feel good about yourself. In fact, you’ll try to upstage them. It’s because we want to feel normal; don’t want to feel like the odd one out.

    Looks can indicate health; and I believe that’s enough reason a person should look after themselves. Although, if you were born with a physical illness, there’s not much you can do. In that case, you should be judged by your personality.

    Of course, first impressions matter, because the best will be the most enjoyable to remember, but it’s also important to know a person first. Matters not the shell, but the insides. We need to be a little less judgmental, but I guess that’s hard to do in today’s society. Oh joy.

  28. I completely disagree with this list, especially the marriage one, you shouldn’t marry someone who only values you because of your looks, and will leave as soon as you get old. Which is going to happen!

  29. according to me FACE IS ONLY FOR STRANGERS. When u r a stranger people may use your appearance to judge or whatever. Even if they do so they will change their perception on you once they know about you.
    just think once, when you are with your friends or family does their face accounts to you, or the love for them matters. Face only plays role until you are stranger. Once you become familiar its only your work and your character that speaks.

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