-
Mar 25, 2008 11:04 pm US/Central
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Good Question: Why Are Beauties Marrying Beasts?
(WCCO)
Ever see a guy with a gorgeous woman on his arm and wonder how'd she end up with him? A new study found couples are actually happier when a woman outranks her man in the looks department.
While women swoon over heartthrobs like George Clooney, the new study says women don't need a hunk to be happy, and will actually give up looks for something deeper.
Some of the most successful marriages maybe between attractive women and plain looking men, which maybe a stereotype reinforced by pop culture or celebrities.
In real life, lanky Howard Stern married a beauty and Donald Trump has had several attractive wives.
"I think Bill Gates could get any woman he wants. There's something to be said for money," said one man in Minneapolis.
"Women tend to look for males who provide resources and protection," said University of St. Thomas psychology professor John Tauer, who also said it goes deeper than that.
"What women are looking for today isn't that same thing as thousands of years ago but the way we are wired hasn't necessarily changed so quickly as society has," he said.
And even in the 21st Century, men are driven by something primal.
"Really what males are looking for is a partner who can reproduce, who can bear children. This perspective, that's our major goal and so attractiveness by itself doesn't mean a whole lot but what it represents: health, fertility and the ability to produce offspring, those are really important variables," said Tauer.
He also said don't discount looks all together. Attraction is often what gets the conversation started. And it's not that women don't care about a man's looks, it's that men often put a higher emphasis on appearance.
Scientists found that when a man is more attractive than his wife, he's more likely to be unhappy.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)