Science: Men Like Hot Women

In a classic case of Scientific Studies We Didn’t Need:

Men weigh up potential partners almost instantaneously based on their appearance because their “ancient” genetic preference for attractive mates leads them to, experts claim.

According to research, a woman with an attractive face is taken by men to be fertile and able to continue the family line, appealing to the man’s survival instinct.

In contrast women take longer to decide their feelings for a man because they need to weigh up whether he will be a committed partner who will provide for them well – part of their survival programming.

Professor Mark van Vugt and Dr Johanna van Hooff, from the University of Amsterdam, and postgraduate student Helen Crawford, from the University of Kent, were behind the study which is to be published by the Oxford Journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

Did anyone reading this not already know this?

Prof van Vugt said: “Men definitely have the most wandering eye but it is because they have evolved to pay attention to cues of fertility and one of those cues is facial beauty – it’s not that men are shallow.  But we found they do make snap judgments about women, much earlier than was previously thought. They make that decision on whether a woman would be a good mating partner in milliseconds. This is something very ancient and a way of helping men find the best mate to produce children.”

“Women were not distracted by attractive male faces because women need more proof of whether a man is a good mate. Women make that decision on behaviour, whether a man is trustworthy and committed. They make their decision much later than men.”

Again:  Duh.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Whenever I see studies like this — and there have been many others — I am convinced it’s just an excuse for scientists to hang out with hot women

  2. Tom Knighton says:

    Let’s be honest. Some scientists need all the help they can get to hang out with hot women. They’re not known for being good with women after all.

  3. JKB says:

    For mating, yes but if he plans on sticking around, going on beauty alone has lead to many a miserable life for man. Not to mention, modern man must carry a wash cloth to see if she’s really a beauty or a product of Industrial Light and Magic.

    Doug, sadly in this instance I doubt the scientists got to hang out with hot women. They probably just needed an excuse for plastering their office with photos of hot women and why the door was locked al the time.

  4. sam says:

    Hey hey hey hey hey
    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    A pretty women makes her husband look small
    it very often causes a system fall
    As soon as he marrys her then she starts
    looking for things that will break his heart
    but if you make an ugly women your wife
    you’ll be happy for the rest of your life
    An ugly women will put peals on that
    and she’ll always give you a piece of that.

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    Don’t let your friends tell you you have no taste
    go ahead and marry anyway
    Her face is ugly her eyes don’t match
    take it from me shes a better catch

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    Dude 1:say man
    Dude 2:hey man
    Dude 1: I saw your wife the other day
    Dude 2: Yeah
    Dude 1: Yeah and Shes Ugly
    Dude 2: Yeah shes Ugly but she sure can cook baby.
    Dude 1: Yeah

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    (FADE)
    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
    Never make a pretty women your wife
    Go for my personal point of view
    Get an ugly girl to marry you

    Notice: No married men in my household were harmed during or after the posting of these lyrics (the coward waited until his quite lovely wife was well away from this computer).

  5. Anon says:

    In general, I think you want to be careful about judging research based solely on articles about it in the lay media. In this particular case, it appears that the article hasn’t been published yet, so we can’t read it for ourselves.

  6. Wayne says:

    It cracks me up on how a woman beauty is almost always the results signs of fertility. IMO it is another example of theory being hammer into the results. How does a pretty face show more fertility than a homely one? If it was all about fertility then stocky, plumb, intelligent and wide hip women would be who man are attracted to instead of thin, various hips size, and various intelligent, etc women. Yes I know that is a generality statement but so is the study.

  7. sam says:

    Dream research project: Male Preference for Hot Women of Differing Hair Colors and Complexions as a Function of Preference for Foreign or Domestic Beers.

    Where do I sign up. Oooops gotta go.

  8. L says:

    If men are attractive to “hot” looking women because it shows fertility. Then I have a BIG question for you. WHY do many many men want to play around (use women) when they are supposedly interested to their fertility? So now we “read” between the lines that men who are so attracted to the “hot” looking women want to have children? Hmmmmmmmmmmm…………… Really? Now I am confused. Why not say that they just want to “play” or whore themselves around. Oh I forgot, – the women get to be called whores, and the men get to keep score. Isn’t there a name equivalent to the word “whore” – for men like this> Mind you, there is nothing wrong with being attracted physically, it is a human trait that we all have in us. It’s in the behaviour that follows after the initial attraction that is vitally important. Deep respect for the differences in both male and female sexes is in order, otherwise playing around – need I even say — causes so much hurt in the world that can last a lifetime and keeps psychologists extremely busy earning tons of money. Surely there’s a better way.

  9. James Joyner says:

    WHY do many many men want to play around (use women) when they are supposedly interested to their fertility?
    The argument is about biology, not sociology. Men are biologically programmed to want sex with desirable women because evolution favors the propagation and survival of the species. But we live in societies that demand monogamy and financial responsibility to one’s offspring.