Why Does Agreement About Attractiveness Fade Over Time?

Paul Eastwick says people largely agree on who is attractive in a photograph or at a first meeting with a stranger, and that agreement fades once they actually get to know the person.

Many studies hand people a set of photographs and ask which faces are likely to be more romantically successful. The people rated more physically attractive are the ones expected to do better, and strangers meeting for the first time show the same kind of agreement. What that misses is that agreement about someone's attractiveness falls as people get to know each other. In his illustration, a person the group calls a six draws some sevens and some fives while everyone is still looking at a photograph. After people get to know that person, the ratings spread: some now say three, and some say nine. A relationship works best when two people each find the other a 10. Romantic love does not need 20,000 people to decide someone is their soulmate. It needs one.