The New Definition of Sexy - While a hot body always helps, it's the attitude that matters.

What is sexy?

Ask a million different people that question and expect a million different answers. The meaning of the word "sexy" springs from an unpredictable jumble of broad cultural values and intimate, personal experiences. So while marketers and tastemakers know they can sell plenty of blue jeans and beer with a taut, tan midriff or perky set of … cheekbones, it generally takes a more nuanced combination to really trip a person's trigger.

And according to a recent MSN-Zogby poll it takes lots more than eye candy, too. Nearly 75 percent of the more than 10,600 American adults polled in April said sexy is more an attitude than it is a perfect physique. In fact, more than 76 percent said a woman can be sexy if she was a size 14 or larger.

This may seem surprising in a culture that apparently values air-brushed visual titillation over all else—if you're skeptical, flip on your TV or type "sexy" in your Web browser's search box and see what pops up (on second thought, don't).

But there were some more predictable results within the broader findings. Women (84 percent) are much more likely than men (63 percent) to say sexiness derives from an intangible quality—personal confidence, say—rather than looks. Single respondents (21 percent) place slightly more emphasis on physical qualities than do their married counterparts (18 percent). The balance between attitude and appearance shifts steadily in favor of the former as you go up the age scale.

None of this is shocking—we take for granted that men are more visually oriented and that looks become less important as we age.

So perhaps a more interesting question is, why is something sexy?

While our shared culture tells us what is generally sexually appealing—toned abs are to 21st century America what nice ankles were to Victorian England—personal history fills in the gaps, says Helen Fisher, an anthropologist and author who has spent the last three decades researching and writing about various aspects of sex, love and attachment.

For example, a man whose early intimate experiences were with someone who always wore the same pair of sneakers may fetishize similar footwear for the rest of his life, Fisher says.

Men are more prone to do this sort of thing than women, in part, because they appear to be hard-wired to react more strongly to visual stimuli. In other words, there is some valid science behind the old saw about how men love with their eyes—and behind the fact that men almost single-handedly support the multi-billion dollar visual pornography industry, Fisher notes.

While researching her 2004 book, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, Fisher's team monitored the region of the brain that processes visual stimuli. They found that this section became much more active in the male subjects when they were shown pictures of their sweethearts.

Fisher says men tend to be drawn to signs of youth and health, which suggest someone will provide healthy offspring. It's tougher, meanwhile, to judge a potential father's merits based solely on appearance, though such coveted features as strong jaws and high cheekbones are signs of high testosterone levels, she says.

But as the poll data illustrates, looks only get you so far. Even from the biological perspective, there are clearly many more qualities that go into making attractive procreators and mates than physical attributes.

"You need someone who isn't going to be hysterical, who will be charming enough to help create the social networks you need to help raise a child," Fisher says. "You want someone who has to energy to go out and make a living and the personality to keep life from being dull."

Beyond sags and bags.

From a sociological standpoint, looks don't do a whole lot of good if you can't stand to be around a person.

The poll suggests that the more romantically seasoned place a higher premium on non-physical attributes than anyone else—79 percent of divorced, widowed or separated respondents said a person's sexiness springs from his or her attitude and other intangible qualities.

In addition, the data indicates that non-physical assets become even more important as we age and our notions of what makes someone sexy evolve.

Young people tend to place a premium on the physical, in part, Fisher says, because it's all they have: "The only thing they're selling is what they're carrying on them—their looks and maybe their education."

There are also plenty of people in our "40 is the new 30" culture who keep or even enhance their looks as they mature and make their way in the world. The MSN-Zogby poll found 26-35 to be a woman's sexiest age range, but there certainly is no shortage of ladies who dazzle the eyes for years beyond that modest span.

But as we get older and gain status, emotional security and hard-won wisdom, we're looking less for hotties and babymakers than for compatible mates that will help create durable and rewarding relationships, says Joan Price, author, blogger and self-described "advocate of ageless sexuality."

Such considerations feed our personal ideas about what is sexy. Other factors include our awareness of our own changing bodies.

"We have wrinkles, sags and bags. If having perfect faces and unlined bodies was a prerequisite for sexiness, we'd be out of the story already," says Joan Price, 63, who wrote about evolving sexuality in her book, Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty. "We yearn for the same touch and intimacy but we have to first internalize the changed idea of what sexy is. We have to see ourselves as sexy."

Price recalls asking her 70-year-old husband Robert, whom she married last May, to explain exactly how he could consider her to be as beautiful as he claimed when she could plainly see all her lines and physical imperfections whenever she looked into a mirror. (So don't expect those sorts of questions to go away anytime soon, guys.)

"He told me, 'If I am to know myself and accept my own aging process, how could I want anything less from you?'" Price says. "I tell that story sometimes when I'm asked to speak somewhere and women always ask, 'Does Robert have a brother?'"

"When two people who really accept themselves come together, that's where good sex happens," she adds. "The most powerful sex organ is the brain."

By Jeremy Egner