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jrknothead
News Junkie
Joined: Aug 04, 2007
Age: 42
Posts: 1110
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida USA
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 Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject: Nerds rejoice: Braininess boosts likelihood of sex |
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Nerds rejoice: Braininess boosts likelihood of sex
| Quote: | Lonely men ought to flaunt their copies of New Scientist. Women looking for both one-night stands and long-term relationships go for geniuses over dumb jocks, according to a new study of hundreds of university students.
"Women want the best of both worlds. Not only a physically attractive man, but somebody in the long term who can provide for them," says Mark Prokosch, an evolutionary psychologist at Elon University in North Carolina, who led the study.
To many women, a smart man will appeal because he is likely to be clever enough to keep his family afloat. But he may also pass on "good" genes to his children, say Prokosch and his colleagues at the University of California, Davis.
Rather than ask women to rate qualities they seek in men, as other studies had done, Prokosch's team asked 15 college men to perform a series of tasks on camera.
The volunteers read news reports, explained why they would be a good date, and what would be the ramifications of the discovery of life on Mars. They also threw and caught a Frisbee to parade their physical appeal. Each potential suitor also took a quantitative test of verbal intelligence.
Smart is sexy More than 200 women watched a series of these videos before rating each man's intelligence, attractiveness, creativity and appeal for a short-term or long-term relationship.
While the difference between short- and long-term mates may amount to a boozy decision students face each weekend, it has some evolutionary significance, Prokosch says. In potential husbands, women look for signs that a man might be a good provider and father. In one-night stands, women are on the prowl for little more than good genes, not to mention a good time.
Women proved to be decent judges of intelligence, with their scores generally matching each man's intelligence test results.
As for picking a bed-mate, the men's actual smartness proved a reliable indicator of their appeal for both brief hook-ups and serious relationships – which came as something of a surprise. Other studies have suggested that, for women anticipating short-term relationships, a man's braininess isn't foremost in their minds.
The disparate results may be due to women's lack of awareness that intelligence also affects the attractiveness of candidates for quick flings – how intelligent women perceived a man to be influenced his desirability as a long-term mate much more than his appeal for a one-night stand.
Martie Haselton, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of California in Los Angeles, also notes that although women were good judges of intelligence, they weren't perfect. In many cases, women rated good hook-ups as dunces, when their intelligence scores indicated otherwise.
"There could be aspects of intelligence that we pick up on when we interact with a person and that affect our assessment of them, even if we wouldn't label it as intelligence," she says.
But some things never change. Looks were still a much more powerful predictor of sex appeal than brains. "Women are still going for the hunk," Prokosch says. "If you had an option to pick from five different people, you would pick the most attractive one."
So in a perfect world, women want a Nobel prize winner with movie-star looks. Creativity also proved to be a sought-after trait, and Prokosch's team is currently working on an objective measure of creativity, similar to the intelligence test they used.
However, in a world of limited resources, not every woman gets what she wants, and some are bound to fall for ugly, unintelligent and uncreative men. "There's always other people out there that find everything attractive," Prokosch says. |
Strange I'm not meeting these women...
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Never let your schooling interfere with your education. - Samuel Clemens |
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Roxas_XIII
Shur'tugal (Dragon Rider)
Joined: Jan 09, 2007
Age: 17
Posts: 1388
Location: Somewhere over Alagaesia
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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I guess it takes a combination of things. Intelligence is up there on the attraction scale, but it doesn't trump good looks. I have intelligence, i'm fair looking, and I have somewhat of a naive charm. Sometimes girls hit on me, sometimes they don't. I guess it all comes down to balance and what a girl really wants.
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California, rest in peace
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She's my priestess, I'm your priest... yeah, yeah, yeah |
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BPalmer
Sea Gull
Joined: Jul 26, 2008
Posts: 243
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:12 pm Post subject: Re: Nerds rejoice: Braininess boosts likelihood of sex |
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| What about nerds who are stuck in low-paying entry-level jobs? Ha ha, you guessed it, women only want nerds who have money, or at least earning potential. So saying that nerdiness itself is sexy, is a pile of horse-plop. |
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twoshots
Honorary Vertebrate
Joined: Nov 27, 2007
Posts: 2115
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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University students.
Totally representative sample.
If I weren't such a lazy ass I'd bet I could find that was only the beginning of this study's troubles...
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"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
-Winston Churchill |
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tweety_fan
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 03, 2007
Posts: 1506
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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| it just comes down to what a girl wants in a date. |
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Cyberman
Cyber Lieutenant
Joined: Apr 25, 2008
Posts: 1259
Location: Cyber Control
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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| What possible use is there for a "study" like this, other than to feed their own narcissism? Who assigns this crap anyway? I find it infuriating that most of us don't have the kind of money to pay for university-level tuition, and yet these dimwitted brats have so much they can waste it on useless projects like this. |
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Pobodys_Nerfect
Velociraptor
Joined: Mar 11, 2008
Posts: 414
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:34 am Post subject: |
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| So, get a chance once they've had their fun with the jocks. No thanks. |
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BPalmer
Sea Gull
Joined: Jul 26, 2008
Posts: 243
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:43 am Post subject: |
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| But only if you've got yourself financially set up first. |
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slowmutant
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 14, 2008
Age: 29
Posts: 8640
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:11 am Post subject: |
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Who is behind this study? The jocks?  |
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carturo222
Polymath wannabe
Joined: Aug 04, 2008
Age: 25
Posts: 1137
Location: Colombia
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:33 am Post subject: |
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Whenever I hear that women are interested in us only for passing good genes to their offspring, or for the chances that we'll be good providers, I feel insulted.
Last edited by carturo222 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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slowmutant
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 14, 2008
Age: 29
Posts: 8640
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:40 am Post subject: |
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Braininess =/= genetic worth.
Case in point, Stephen Hawking. His Lou Gehrig's Disease is a genetic albatross. |
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Oggleleus
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: Jun 03, 2008
Posts: 178
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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I took my Bobafett action figure along with my Real Analysis book to the gym and did not meet any of these women either!  |
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slowmutant
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 14, 2008
Age: 29
Posts: 8640
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Like I said, braininess =/= genetic worth. |
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patternist
Stirring the pot....
Joined: Jul 29, 2008
Age: 35
Posts: 1833
Location: wouldn't you like to know?
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Bobafett action figure =/= braininess. |
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Cyanide
Leader of Shadaloo
Joined: Sep 25, 2006
Posts: 1405
Location: OR
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Pobodys_Nerfect wrote: | | So, get a chance once they've had their fun with the jocks. No thanks. |
Hahaha, I agree! |
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