Great news for anyone who’s ever been dumped for being too nice.
A study conducted by Evolutionary Psychology has found that most women seek partners who are kind.
According to the study, attractiveness is not the primary desire, rather it’s how altruistic a mate is. But don’t get too excited yet, as attractiveness still plays a part, with partners of equal attractiveness and kindness being the most popular.
Women were presented with images of men displaying bravery or kindness, and chose those who showed a propensity for being nice.
The study states:
‘Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences and in long-term (LT) relationships. The current study analysed how these preferences interacted with another important mate choice variable, physical attractiveness.
‘Here, female participants were presented with photographs of men of varying levels of physical attractiveness, alongside descriptions of them behaving either altruistically or not in different scenarios.
‘The results showed women preferred altruistic men, particularly in LT relationships and that this interacted with physical attractiveness such that being both attractive and altruistic made a man more desirable than just the sum of the two desirable parts.’
Looks like nice guys don’t finish last after all.
