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Couples in which the woman is more attractive than the man are more likely to break up
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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A group of British scientists from the Universities of Stirling, Chester and Liverpool came to the conclusion that in couples where the woman's external attractiveness significantly exceeds the man's, the likelihood of separation is especially high.
However, as The Daily Mail notes, if a man is more beautiful than a woman, this does not affect the strength of their relationship.
During the study, scientists photographed more than 100 couples. Some of them had only been together for a few months, while others were long-term partners. Each man and woman were assessed for their physical attractiveness. It was then discovered that if the woman was significantly more beautiful than the man, their relationship was destined to last only a few months.
"It turns out that it's the woman who decides whether to continue a relationship," says researcher Rob Burriss. Beautiful women understand that they have a lot of choices. They are also confident enough to leave relationships that have run their course, he suggests.
According to him, attractive women generally prefer short-term relationships. They are more inclined to move on. It is also possible that relationships end because of jealousy scenes that a beautiful woman gets into with her less attractive partner.
"Accordingly, less attractive women have to be content with what they have, hence the longer-term relationships," Barriss explained.
The researchers made another important discovery: people tend to tie their fate to those whose facial features obey the same rules of symmetry as their own. "Do all men want to date a woman who looks like Anne Hathaway or Angelina Jolie, or do you want a woman whose attractiveness is on the same level as yours? Our data show that the ideal partner should be close to you in terms of appearance," concluded the co-author of the work published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
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