A series of new studies has revealed what some have long suspected. That a man already having a girlfriend or partner makes him far more attractive to the opposite sex.
That’s right! Studies have shown that women will find the same man more attractive if he is already taken, particularly if the woman he is with is attractive herself. It all comes down to evolutionary mate-selection.
A study conducted back in the 1990s on the humble Guppy fish was the first to suggest this practice in non-human animals. In the experiment, it was shown that female Guppy fish preferred larger, more vibrant coloured males. However, it also concluded that, if the male had already been shown to be mating, they then became far more attractive to the other females. When given the choice between mating with a single male Guppy fish and another that had just mated, the female was much more likely to choose the fish the latter.
Ok, us humans aren’t Guppy fish, and we would hope our tastes are a little more complex, but a more recent experiment also backed up these findings in the human population.
In a 2018 experiment, females were shown pictures of men with and without females also in the picture. It was revealed that 16 out of the 18 women found the man pictured alongside other women as more attractive. So maybe we aren’t so different to the Guppy after all.
Evolutionary biologists have a range of theories as to why taken men are more attractive. Most of them focus on what is called ‘mate-copying’. In short, it is suggested that females seeing a man with another female indicates that he must have something positive about him if a female is already choosing to be with him. This phenomena increases with the attractiveness of the female, as a very attractive women being with the man indicates that he must have a lot going for him!
Others have suggested that human beings are just so hardwired to learn from others that copying or being attracted to similar mates is imprinted on our brains. In effect, it means that instead of going through all the difficult learning processes of deciding which male is good or bad for us, we select our mate based on the investigatory work of others.
This inclination towards mate-copying, or learning attraction form others, particularly in the case of females, may be why so many women swoon over the same celebrities and pop-stars. They are taking the lead from others. It also explains why men are just as likely to be attracted to a pop-star or celebrity as an equally attractive non-famous woman.
So, there you have it. In a complete chicken and egg situation, if you want to attract a partner already have a beautiful partner to begin with and you can’t go far wrong.
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