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Culture & Religion —

Why Women Regret Choosing Mr. Stable Over Mr. Sexy

Evolutionary pressures have made women more attracted to sexy men during the peak of their ovulation cycle, say researchers at UCLA who have completed an interesting new study.
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What’s the Latest Development?

How close women feel to their partner regularly changes depending on their ovulation cycle, according to a new study out of UCLA. At the peak of the cycle, when women are more fertile, they are likely to feel more attracted to their mate if he is physically attractive (the study focused on heterosexual couples). If he isn’t so good looking, women tend to feel less attracted during fertile periods. The study confirms, however, that these temporary shifts in attraction do not cause women to change their long-term outlook on the relationship.

What’s the Big Idea?

Researchers believe there are deep evolutionary roots for the changes they observed in women’s feelings toward their partner but that today, they serve no other purpose than “to stir the domestic pot.” Martie Haselton of UCLA’s Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, said: “Since our female ancestors couldn’t directly examine a potential partner’s genetic makeup, they had to base their decisions on physical manifestations of the presence of good genes and the absence of genetic mutations, which might include masculine features such as a deep voice, masculine face, dominant behavior and sexy looks.”

Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

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