Do you think individuals describing these feelings and the intensity of them could add to what research is currently being done in brain scans? I realize it is more research than science but I am wondering if the two would compliment each other.

It’s tricky to listen to people talking about what they look for in a partner, because there’s a cultural lingo about partners and relationships which can spoil scientific inquiry. A researcher might get a lot of universally valid criteria, like ‘similar interests’ or ‘compatiblity’ which can eclipse real gender and orientation specific requirements. Plus, people might not want to acknowledge some feelings. Brainscans showed that gay men feel greater anxiety when they see pictures of other men. However, they don’t report that they look for protection in another man. That feeling is probably differently processed by masculine (gay) brains and feminine (straight) brains. The same feeling could get into greater arousal to discharge stress in men, while another could push women to look for a partner they feel safe with.
But, asking can produce mixed results. A good research design can get some good answers and some insignificant answers. Answers which contradict some hard facts can be useful too, because there’s a lot to understand from biases.

If there were similarities between what a woman and a SSA man look for in a man, and that could be verbalized in detail, wouldn’t that be important to research? Same with what a SSA woman and a man look for in a woman?

Definitely. Some things should emerge as specific to “attractions to women” or to “attractions to men” (no matter what the gender of the attracted is), while other things should be specific to gender. There might be a few specific to orientation. But scientists believe more in objective measurements than in reports, that’s why I think whatever data they get from asking people will be interpreted against other facts, like the one in this study with hormones.

THat’s the issue. No one can tell how strong another one’s attractions are. We think that it must be the same for both opposite-sex and same-sex attractions, but it might be wholly different.

Evan,
Do you think individuals describing these feelings and the intensity of them could add to what research is currently being done in brain scans? I realize it is more research than science but I am wondering if the two would compliment each other.

That would mean that gay men’s feelings and what they look for in another partner is not comparable to straight men’s feelings and what they look for in a partner, to answer in the terms of your original question.

Yes, that makes sense. If there were similarities between what a woman and a SSA man look for in a man, and that could be verbalized in detail, wouldn’t that be important to research? Same with what a SSA woman and a man look for in a woman?

I know that the feelings of attraction and love are just as intense with individuals who are attracted to the same gender and hope future research factors in what they say about this along with the other studies. I think it would tell us a lot.

THat’s the issue. No one can tell how strong another one’s attractions are. We think that it must be the same for both opposite-sex and same-sex attractions, but it might be wholly different. The brain studies showed that gay men and straight women have some patterns in common. Maybe attractions to a particular gender are similarly expressed in the brain and similarly felt by any of both genders. So men and women who are attracted to men might feel similarly towards men, but could process those feelings differently (physically). That would mean that gay men’s feelings and what they look for in another partner is not comparable to straight men’s feelings and what they look for in a partner, to answer in the terms of your original question. There are similarities, in that men are more visual than women, but the difference is, I think, more of intensity than of nature. Just the same, lesbian women probably feel similar attractions to women, but they should be a bit less intense than straight men’s.

We don’t see physically attractive people.
We see people who are a match for what our instincts tell us is attractive.

It should be emphasized that this is, indeed, instinctual and not necessarily cultural or experience based. Culture may determine what is currently considered appealing on some level (voluptuous v. waifish or familiar v. exotic), and relationship experiences may influence taste, but certain facial features seem to transcend culture, community, or time.
It has even been found that young infant react to physically attractive faces so it may be that we are born with an appreciations (or comfort) for certain feature combinations.