There may be no such thing as the perfect partner, but an ideal partner can be found in

someone who has developed themselves in certain ways that go beyond looks, charms and

success (Firestone, 2009). People have concepts of what an ideal romantic partner should

be, and that often people do idealize their current romantic partners (Fletcher & Simpson,

2000; Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996). Further, consistency between ideal standards and

current romantic partner characteristics may function in initiating and maintaining

relationships (Fletcher, Simpson, & Thomas, 1999). Although several traits are perceived by

people as ideal in a romantic partner, no one is going to exemplify all such preferences.

The definition of an ideal man is inconsistent. It varies from person to person and

may even change for an individual because of factors like time, trends and experiences.

Over the years, a great of number of movies and fictional stories under the romance

and teen fiction genres include male characters that have been so overused in past storylines

that they become clich and predictable in succeeding ones. These characters could be
classified into either of the following types: The popular guy possessing god-like physical

features and wealth, but having an attitude that is the exact opposite of his external

characteristics, the nerd or loser that actually has a hidden cool side and heart of gold, or the

full package, having both the good looks and good attitude. Characters like Josh Bryant from

The Princess Diaries, Miles Pudge Halter from Looking for Alaska, and Troy Bolton from

The High School Musical franchise are examples of the three types of guys, respectively,

mentioned earlier. As mundane as these depictions are, these kinds of characters are still

prominent in books and movies until today. Fictional characters represent the absolute ideal.

They are perfect to the point of being inhuman (Rizzo, 2009). This way of depicting men

gives women the idea that they can find someone having the same qualities as these

characters. Womens standards become too high and some of them end up being hopeless

romantics.

Beginning from 2009, Sociologist Michael Rosenfeld observed 3,000 people to

determine what happens to their relationships in the course of time. Nowadays, relationships

go as quickly as they have come. Sixty percent of the unmarried couples who had been

together for less than 2 months during the first wave of Rosenfeld's study were no longer

together when he checked up again the following year (Ferdman, 2016). These relationships

possibly failed because of incompatibility between partners. A womans ideal man may not

necessarily be the right one.

There has also been a noticeable change in womens preferences through the course

of time. Back then, women would prefer men who have a stable job and can provide if ever

they get married in the future. Nowadays, females, especially teenagers, would often base

their ideal man on appearances solely.

This study aimed to answer the question: What factors do the female students of the

University of Santo Tomas AMV-College of Accountancy consider when choosing a

boyfriend or setting standards for their ideal man? It involves external qualities such as age,

height, weight, skin color and social class and internal qualities such as intelligence, humor,

beliefs, manners and religion. Components such as literatures and movies influence the

characteristics women look for when deciding on whom to be in a relationship with. Because

of this, a misunderstanding between real love and fantasy love arises.

Specifically, it aimed to: a) identify the qualities female students of University of Sto.

Tomas Alfredo M. Velayo -College of Accountancy consider when choosing an ideal man, b)4determine
whether the female students of University of Sto. Tomas AMV-College of

Accountancy focus more on the internal qualities or the external qualities, and c) find out

their own definition of an ideal man.

Most of the respondents are interested in having a relationship and they are looking at the

external or physical qualities more rather than the internal qualities.

The researchers hypothesized that most female students from the College of

Accountancy would consider external qualities of men rather than their internal qualities
when choosing a partner.

(Contributions) This study5