14 DAY TRIAL // Don't fool yourself: if you look like Michael Moore, you shouldn't dream of an Angelina Jolie. That's because an Angelina seems to dream of a Brad. Many studies have attempted to alleviate us saying that women are interested in men's possible specific qualities, not in the look. But a new research published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology shows that women's preferences are shaped by their own attractiveness, this way challenging studies that claim women look for a partner according to what non-physical traits they want.
Studies showed that women interested in long-term partners look for someone appearing to be a good provider for them and their children, but those interested in short-term affairs are more interested in the masculinity and physical attractiveness, traits they would like to see in their children.
But the team made of David Buss, psychology researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, and Todd Shackelford, psychology professor at Florida Atlantic University, show that these patterns could apply to women regarding themselves as being less attractive. In fact, it seems that all women ideally want partners comprising all those desired traits, but they will reduce their demands to match their self-perceived level of attractiveness.
"When reviewing the qualities they desire in romantic partners, women gauge what they can get based on what they got. And women who are considered physically attractive maintain high standards for prospective partners across a variety of characteristics," said Buss.
4 main types of traits were looked for by women in a possible partner: quality genes, reflected in physical attractiveness; income (resources); good parenting skills and loyalty.
In fact, all female subjects would have tried to find an optimal combination of these qualities in a future husband, but the investigators showed that some women, when not encountering a combination of these features in a man, may compensate some traits for others.
And while women's selectivity level was directly connected to how attractive they were for the members of the opposite sex, what men desired in a woman was not connected to their own physical attractiveness. In the end, the Moores have fantasies with hot babes, too.