Science Proves Women Are Always Attracted to This One Trait Over Good Looks

A new study on the type of men that women really want for their relationships confirms that for long-term (LT) relationships, women always prefer altruistic traits over good looks, but for short-term (ST) relationships, women want anything but a nice guy.

The study, which was published in the journal of Evolutionary Psychology, had researchers from the University of Worcester ask 202 straight women to compare a series of photographs of two men. One set of photographs showed a highly attractive man and the other a low-rated attractive man.

Researchers then gave all the women different combinations of scenarios behind the photos. One scenario would show the highly attractive man buying a cup of tea and a sandwich for a homeless person while the less attractive would pretend to use his phone while walking past a homeless person. In other scenarios, the roles were reversed.

The women were then asked to rate how attractive they found the men for LT and ST relationships, given their actions in the scenario. The results showed that women were more interested in the altruistic trait of the man who helped the homeless person, regardless of whether he was handsome or not (though, an altruistic and handsome man was the most ideal scenario). According to the study:

“Men who were just altruistic were rated as more desirable than men who were just attractive. If a man possesses only one of those traits, it is altruism that is more valuable.”

The study athen revealed another interesting point about what women want for long-term versus short-term relationships: Women really don’t want a nice guy specifically for short-term relationships.

“As an interestingly aside to this analysis, it was also found that nonaltruistic men were more desirable for ST relationships, which suggests that rather than altruism not being important in ST relationships, in the present study, it is actually undesirable.”

So guys, if you’re stressing because you can’t find a girlfriend and you don’t look like a male model, just try being selfless and overall good human being — odds are you and the right woman will find each other. On the other hand, if you are a good-looking but selfish and ego-centric jerk, the world of short-term relationships awaits.

h/t: Pacific Standard

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