This study found out that women think men with beards are better boyfriend material
Facial hair is making a comeback, which is great news for men looking to be in relationships. A new study points to women thinking that men with beards are better boyfriend material. Finally! A concrete reason why millions of women love men with facial hair.
According to a study in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, men with a little scruff are the type of guys you want to boo up. Glitter beards or no glitter beards, the study found “significant interaction between beardedness and masculinity on attractiveness ratings.”
Because we all know that ladies love a little hair around the jaw!
The study breaks down how women think men with beards are better boyfriend material.
"...findings suggest that beardedness may be attractive when judging long-term relationships as a signal of intrasexual formidability and the potential to provide direct benefits to females. More generally, our results hint at a divergence of signalling function, which may result in a subtle trade-off in women's preferences, for two highly sexually dimorphic androgen-dependent facial traits."
The authors of the study suggest that it’s all biology. Women tend to think that men with facial hair will be better providers. Why? Evolution. Another benefit can be a trade-off in genetic material. We seek out partners that will add genetic variety to our offsprings. If you don’t have facial hair, you seek those who do.
Basically, opposites attract. Because, duh.
Take this study with a grain of salt, though. The study only included women who like men and doesn’t account for same-sex couples. And more generally, evolutionary psychology as a field has drawn plenty of criticism. Maybe the women in the study preferred men with beards not because they think beards mean men are better providers, but because beards are having a cultural moment right now.
