'Why women just love to love a bad boy'

from independent woman

Nice guys have always suspected it but the confirmation is finally in -- when it comes to sexual attraction, bad boys always win.

A major study from the University of British Columbia in Canada has confirmed that women find "happy" guys significantly less sexually attractive than swaggering or brooding men.

And the research -- which may cause men to smile less on dates -- finds dramatic gender differences in how men and women rank the sexual attractiveness of non-verbal expressions of commonly displayed emotions, such as happiness, pride or arrogance.

In terms of basic attraction, women are drawn to moody, self-absorbed guys while men tend to look for open, apparently happy and confident women. But not too confident.

The bad news for independently minded ladies is that men are least attracted to women who appear "proud and confident".

The team found that men and women even respond differently to something as simple as a smile.

The study goes some way towards explaining the enduring allure of classic 'bad boys' and other iconic gender types (and why troubled-but-cute characters such as James Dean or Robert Pattinson's vampire in the Twilight movies are so enduringly hot).

i would personally change 'always win' to 'mostly win' in the first sentence, relative to age. girls seem more attracted to the bad boy types when they are younger, then grow up and realize that her outlaw biker boyfriend is not gonna help pay the bills or raise the kids. then nice guys start to look more attractive, the kind a girl can actually take home to momma.

i posted this in the 'science' section because the study did come to this conclusion using quantifiable data, but obviously it doesnt entirely belong here. just some idle reverie. and it kinda ties into texting killing romance.

It probably has to do with why we like mountain climbing, sky diving, roller coasters and horror films ...

... but I wouldn't know. I don't like any of those things.

:dry:

I really think in all about biology and reproduction. While we have big brains the need to perpetuate our species supersedes our higher cognitive functions, we need to breed.

Women need it (the bad boys are stimulating), the bad boys need to give it (the girls are easy), the nice guys, well, pick up the tab.

Actually the nice guys play a very important role in perpetuating the species, they just have to wait a bit to get it.

texting ties into this? :huh:

The women who go after bad guys probably don't care at all and really just want a guy who they can brag aboutt.

Rickie The Grey wrote: I really think in all about biology and reproduction. While we have big brains the need to perpetuate our species supersedes our higher cognitive functions, we need to breed.

i agree, rickie. we are fooling ourselves if we dont take into account that we are still sentient animals, driven by impulses and desires deeper than we know. the study of the human brain is still in its early days.

on that note, here is an article entitled 'When Fertile, Women Want Manly Men'. these type a viking types are the ones most likely to easily mate and pass on their genetic material based on surface factors like looks alone, and we see the proof of this every day. but guess who women are attracted to the rest of the time, according to the study? the guys who actually stick around and help raise the kids.

I think there might be some cultural bias in the study. It was done in Canada by displaying images to people(Canadians). Canadians are heavily marketed to through television and print advertising.

As an American male, and speaking for myself, I'm sexually attracted to women who are sexually available... the naughty librarian, the dirty french maid, the stripper, the prostitute, etc. I'm turned off by women who aren't available... the church lady, the professional woman, the intellectual, the stuck up women, etc.

Whyte Horse wrote: I think there might be some cultural bias in the study. It was done in Canada by displaying images to people(Canadians). Canadians are heavily marketed to through television and print advertising.

As an American male, and speaking for myself, I'm sexually attracted to women who are sexually available... the naughty librarian, the dirty french maid, the stripper, the prostitute, etc. I'm turned off by women who aren't available... the church lady, the professional woman, the intellectual, the stuck up women, etc.

That's about what it's like for me. If she wants to bonk, i'm interested. If she's also pretty though, I'm very interested. Otherwise I might as well chill out with my mates. It's free and requires no effort. Also no risk of rejection. 2 minutes and there's enough drinks and smokes to last the night, no headaches and only good memories. The real problem is that women who come with the drinks, the smokes, and the lack of headaches seem rather rare. Of those, the bonking ones are a minority, and of those, the pretty ones are an even smaller minority. Demand and supply are completely off-balance... which is why the supply can charge for it, hence why I not so long ago made the claim that prostitution was in fact the exploitation of the customers

You do not have to be the result of your upbringing, unless you never take charge of bringing yourself up.

Young people are more easily attracted to illogical things because they (usually) have less life experiences to understand the implications to them and others. I heard today in a video talk that part of the pre-frontal cortex does not properly come on stream until late adolescence!!! That part of the brain processes high level, executive decision making and would explain that period of bad choices by lots of people in their late teens and early twenties. Sometimes bad can be good though, so.... its all part of life.

I guess 'masculinaty' represent a polar opposite of the 'femininity', and so when young people look for a sexual partner it might be common to look for the opposite gender as being the most different/opposite. Which is a rather narrow approach to it.

Keep in mind that not all "bad boys" stay bad.

I was a very, very, bad boy.

Very.

Bad.

However, in meeting my wife, who was in fact attracted to me because of that, we both changed each other over time(also other experiences individually etc) that made me well....waaay less of a bad boy.

My son changed me further in regards to responsibility,awareness and a million other things.

Certain lifestyles, while attractive whne young, arent sustainable long term, and time, experience,etc,etc changes people.

What attracted girls to me when I was younger was the level of danger I represented. While there was animalistic needs to this there was psychological ones as well.

I represented a certain level of rebellion, and excitement.

I was someone a daughters parents warned you against.

Which of course, was part of the attraction.

Now, I imagine the old me would beat the ever living snot out of the present me.

Or try to...

Or at least resent me and hold a level of disdain.

We make different choices when were younger and just starting to grow up and become aware of the larger world around us.

Thats part of growing up, part of gaining experience.

Theres also a certain level of "mating ritual" involved I imagine.

Akin to birds and the Males usually being more colorful and basically strutting, etc to make women notice them. Building awesome nests is akin to having a hot car, or your own place, etc.

Good guys tend to go unnoticed more often.

Though there is also probably a correlation between girls wanting a guy who can provide and those that are lazy too.

I had a nice car, I had a place right out of highschool. I had a job, I had...dare I say it..MONEY.

In fact, in highschool I had a job, money, and a car. Still lived with my parents, but thats usually acceptable in a highschool guy.

I dont look at this as being shallow either, just using good judgement on a girls part.

Why would they choose an unambitious lazy, poor, shiftless, loser,not going anywhere in there lives?

No matter how nice or good you are, that aint gonna cut it, in wild animals, or in humans.

Of course, at least in America, I have seen girls pick and support poor, lazy, unambitious, losers, not going anywhere with there lives.

Or are abusive, etc.

However some people do not have good judgement, or common sense.

Women or men, in regards to that.

But hey, nobodies perfect.

Still, for the most part, I have seen a trend toward not picking those types, and there is a direct correlation to who you pick and why in regards to not only "love" but financial stability,etc, as to how your children are brought up, what options they will have, and who is better placed to be....higher on the food chain in many things too.

Though thats not absolute either, but play the percentages and there is definitely a majority.