The scientific study of personality involves a set of variables, and scientists have found that social attractiveness is only one aspect of personality. Therefore, the definition of personality in terms of social attractiveness is inadequate to use as a fundamental theory of personality. When psychologists study personality they look at a number of factors: social attractiveness may be one of those factors but personality is more than social attractiveness. Socially attractive people differ greatly in terms of other personality factors such as emotionality, empathy, or self-confidence. Biological, genetic, and neurological factors might influence personality too. The definition of personality must take into account issues like a person's reactions, tastes, and communication styles, not just attractiveness. Social attractiveness is also a culturally-specific variable; what makes a person social attractive in one setting might detract from his or her attractiveness in another.

             Social attractiveness can also be difficult to measure and requires its own parameters of definition. What one person perceives as attractive, another might find repulsive. Moreover, social attractiveness depends on others' reactions to an individual, and therefore does not actually measure the individual's personality. Rather, defining personality in terms of social attractiveness measures the effects of personality, not its causes. Psychologists use the scientific method to study personality in the hopes that science will lead to enhanced understanding of human behavior.

             Science is both a body of research and a process of discovery. As a body of research, science is a collection of tested hypotheses: educated guesses about the environment or about human behavior. As a process of discovery, science is the means by which investigators formulate, test, analyze, and validate hypotheses.

             Hypotheses may be based on observation alone, or in most cases, a combination of observation and attention to prior scientific research.