The Sexes Differ When Expressing Their Tastes In Each Other!

A study has suggested men often agree on whom they find hot. Women, as always, fail to see eye to eye!

Led by Wake Forest University psychologist Dustin Wood, the study has revealed that there is much more consensus among men about who they think is attractive, when compared with women.

"Men agree a lot more about who they find attractive and unattractive than women agree about who they find attractive and unattractive. This study shows we can quantify the extent to which men agree about which women are attractive and vice versa," said Wood.

During the study, over 4,000 participants, between the age group of 18 to more than 70, rated photographs of men and women (ages 18-25) for attractiveness on a 10-point scale ranging from "not at all" to "very".

In exchange for their participation, the raters were told what characteristics they found attractive compared with the average person.

Before the participants judged the photographs for attractiveness, the researchers rated the images for how seductive, confident, thin, sensitive, stylish, curvaceous (women), muscular (men), traditional, masculine/feminine, classy, well-groomed, or upbeat the people looked.

Revealing those factors helped the researchers figure out what common characteristics appealed most to women and men.

It was found that men's judgments of women's attractiveness were based primarily around physical features, and that they rated highly those who looked thin and seductive.

Most of the men in the study also rated photographs of women who looked confident as more attractive.

As a group, the women rating men showed some preference for thin, muscular subjects, but disagreed on how attractive many men in the study were.

Some women gave high attractiveness ratings to the men other women said were not attractive at all.

"As far as we know, this is the first study to investigate whether there are differences in the level of consensus male and female raters have in their attractiveness judgments. These differences have implications for the different experiences and strategies that could be expected for men and women in the dating marketplace," said Wood.

Wood said that the study results could have implications for eating disorders and how expectations regarding attractiveness affect behaviour.

He said: "The study helps explain why women experience stronger norms than men to obtain or maintain certain physical characteristics. Women who are trying to impress men are likely to be found much more attractive if they meet certain physical standards, and much less if they don't. Although men are rated as more attractive by women when they meet these physical appearance standards too, their overall judged attractiveness isn't as tightly linked to their physical features."

Older participants were more likely to find people attractive if they were smiling.

The study has appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Source-ANI
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