Study: Men Go for Good Looks

[mooglemania85]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Science is confirming what most women know: When given the choice for a mate, men go for good looks.

And guys won't be surprised to learn that women are much choosier about partners than they are.

''Just because people say they're looking for a particular set of characteristics in a mate, someone like themselves, doesn't mean that is what they'll end up choosing,'' Peter M. Todd, of the cognitive science program at Indiana University, Bloomington, said in a telephone interview.

Researchers led by Todd report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that their study found humans were similar to most other mammals, ''following Darwin's principle of choosy females and competitive males, even if humans say something different.''

Their study involved 26 men and 20 women in Munich, Germany.

Participants ranged in age from 26 to their early 40s and took part in ''speed dating,'' short meetings of three to seven minutes in which people chat, then move on to meet another dater. Afterward, participants check off the people they'd like to meet again, and dates can be arranged between pairs who select one another.

Speed dating let researchers look at a lot of mate choices in a short time, Todd said.

In the study, participants were asked before the session to fill out a questionnaire about what they were looking for in a mate, listing such categories as wealth and status, family commitment, physical appearance, healthiness and attractiveness.

After the session, the researchers compared what the participants said they were looking for with the people they actually chose to ask for another date.

Men's choices did not reflect their stated preferences, the researchers concluded. Instead, men appeared to base their decisions mostly on the women's physical attractiveness.

The men also appeared to be much less choosy. Men tended to select nearly every woman above a certain minimum attractiveness threshold, Todd said.

Women's actual choices, like men's, did not reflect their stated preferences, but they made more discriminating choices, the researchers found.

The scientists said women were aware of the importance of their own attractiveness to men, and adjusted their expectations to select the more desirable guys.

''Women made offers to men who had overall qualities that were on a par with the women's self-rated attractiveness. They didn't greatly overshoot their attractiveness,'' Todd said, ''because part of the goal for women is to choose men who would stay with them''

But, he added, ''they didn't go lower. They knew what they could get and aimed for that level.''

So, it turns out, the women's attractiveness influenced the choices of the men and the women.

I found the bolded part kind of amusing.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

You mean... *shock* men are visually stimulated? I'm glad science has finally solved that mystery.

 

[mooglemania85]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
You mean... *shock* men are visually stimulated? I'm glad science has finally solved that mystery.

I concur. It's nice to see research grants being used efficiently. :thumbsup:

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: mooglemania85

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
You mean... *shock* men are visually stimulated? I'm glad science has finally solved that mystery.

I concur. It's nice to see research grants being used efficiently. :thumbsup:

No kidding. Didn't science just recently link obesity to shorter life spans as well?

 

[Zugzwang152]

This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

No.
This study showed 2 things:
1. Men want women who are above a certain level of attractiveness.
2. Women go for men who are roughly as attractive as them.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

No.
This study showed 2 things:
1. Men want women who are above a certain level of attractiveness.
2. Women go for men who are roughly as attractive as them.

which says, women set realistic expections and men don't?

 

[mh47g]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

No.
This study showed 2 things:
1. Men want women who are above a certain level of attractiveness.
2. Women go for men who are roughly as attractive as them.

which says, women set realistic expections and men don't?

Or men have a higher level of confidence than women.

 

[jjones]

I'd like to see them do this study using hideous and disgusting test subjects, with the option to watch porn instead, and see how it works out.

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

No.
This study showed 2 things:
1. Men want women who are above a certain level of attractiveness.
2. Women go for men who are roughly as attractive as them.

which says, women set realistic expections and men don't?

Or men are less picky.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

No.
This study showed 2 things:
1. Men want women who are above a certain level of attractiveness.
2. Women go for men who are roughly as attractive as them.

actually

1. men go for the most attractive woman available but will settle for less
2. a woman will go for a man that finds her attractive but will not settle for less than what she deems herself worthy.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
This study confirmed two things:

1. Men want attractive women.
2. Women want attractive men.


This thread delivers. :thumbsup:

No.
This study showed 2 things:
1. Men want women who are above a certain level of attractiveness.
2. Women go for men who are roughly as attractive as them.

which says, women set realistic expections and men don't?

or men don't have to work as hard as women to appear attractive. good for me!

 

[Alphathree33]

Wow, I've honestly always wondered why I can get the hottest girls and yet have no confidence at all that I could pick up a fat chick.

This explains it in a weird chick-logic kind of way. "He's so attractive, he'd never stay with me, so I better not." It's true... I never would stay with her.

So it's still in my best interests to become "more" attractive, but I have to start choosing women at a higher and higher levels of hotness as I go along, and they get rarer and rarer as I move up the bell curve.

HUGE lightbulbs going off in my head. And these studies are almost never useful to me.

 

[bonkers325]

so... humans dont want to mate with uggos? what a surprise!

 

[0roo0roo]

pretty much, its why you have trophy wives. miss carolina might be a future trump.
not many rich women going out with handsome plumbers

 

[Alphathree33]

Originally posted by: bonkers325
so... humans dont want to mate with uggos? what a surprise!

I think you're completely oversimplifying it.

Men were willing to sleep with ALL of the women above a certain attractiveness level, and that attractiveness level was not very high. They PREFERRED the more attractive ones, but were willing to settle for lesser ones.

WOMEN wouldn't sleep with people ABOVE _OR_ BELOW their own attractiveness level...

It's the Price Is Right. The objective for women is to bid as near to their actual price as possible WITHOUT GOING OVER.

To me, this answers a lot of questions.

Clearly you've never done any real research if you think this boils down to "humans dont want to mate with uggos."

What this study DID NOT show is what traits the women selected on. It was clearly not as "looks-focused". (And indeed I've met women who absolutely did not care about looks in the slightest.)

So what was the top factor? Social status? Personality (humor, confidence)? Sense of style? Appearance of wealth/power?

 

[Alphathree33]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
pretty much, its why you have trophy wives. miss carolina might be a future trump.
not many rich women going out with handsome plumbers

I suggest that the reason Donald Trump gets supermodels is that he's ultra-confident and passionate about what he does, NOT because he's rich.

I bet if he only had $100,000 in his bank account he would get just as many women.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
pretty much, its why you have trophy wives. miss carolina might be a future trump.
not many rich women going out with handsome plumbers

I suggest that the reason Donald Trump gets supermodels is that he's ultra-confident and passionate about what he does, NOT because he's rich.

I bet if he only had $100,000 in his bank account he would get just as many women.

comedy gold!!