USA & UK — Say what you will about how shallow it is that people judge others by their looks – but it’s the number one way that heterosexual humans decide whether someone looks good enough for a quick romp or a lifetime commitment. Or, so say the researchers of two colleges keen to learn why we love some people and merely lust after others. While there are a number of body parts that likely influence a love vs. (or including) sex decision, the smarty pants researchers at Durham, St. Andrews and Aberdeen universities say that their 700 study participants revealed that it’s the face that seals the deal.
Men: If you want to be seen as an object of superficial sexual desire, hope your genetics earned you small eyes, a large nose and a ruggedly square jaw. If you’re looking for a life mate, pray that your parents shaped you to have softer features, which women interpret as meaning you’re more likely to desire… commitment.
Women: Men don’t have any problem figuring out which ladies like a good time and which don’t – but they have a variety of methods for coming to their final conclusion. Among the features that most frequently triggered an association with lust were wide set eyes and full lips.
An impressive 72-percent of the 153 people participating in one study were able to determine whether a group of 20-something men and women stood in the sex or romance scheme of things after looking at a series of photographs or facial images.
Confirming any number of clichés, old wives’ tales, rumors, assumptions and stereotypes, the researchers discovered that women tended to be more interested in men who looked like they might stick around for a while. Fulfilling other clichés, old wives’ tales, rumors, assumptions and stereotypes was the revelation that the women also tended to think of hunky, masculine men as unfaithful players who wouldn’t be much help raising children.
Ironically, the study found that both men and women tended to select people who were opposites of themselves – and that women who were perceived as being good time girls were likely to be judged as being more attractive.
Dr. Lynda Boothroyd of Durham University’s Psychology Department opined that “This shows that these initial impressions may be part of how we assess potential mates – or potential rivals – when we first meet them.”
Boothroyd believes that the behaviors displayed by those involved with the study, which appeared in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, “will give way over time to more in-depth knowledge of that person as you get to know them better, and may change with age.”
