Calm men preferred by women: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDSep 16 2010

According to a new study, women prefer calm men to stressed ones. Researchers at the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland found that women were more attracted to calm, collected men with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol coursing through their systems, than men who are chronically stressed. The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal. The researchers also found that there was no clear association between attractiveness and high levels of testosterone as was thought before.

For the study healthy young men from the university were included. The team measured their cortisol and testosterone levels. Heterosexual female students were asked to rate the men on their masculinity, health and attractiveness. For the study there were two separate experiments. For part one only testosterone and cortisol and its link with attractiveness was noted. For the part two, female participants were shown images created on computers that altered the men’s faces, showing how they might look were their hormone levels changed.

As an explanation to this preference researchers said that the relaxed airs suggest that these men have “strong” genes and can handle stressful situations - a desirable trait to pass on to offspring – a trait that women may be looking for. Similar choice has been seen in animals like zebra finches also. Researchers explained that chronic stress and persistent high levels of cortisol can suppress both the immune system and reproductive function.

According to team leader human behavioural ecologist Fhionna Moore, “We speculate the that males with low cortisol possess something desirable that women seek to secure for their offspring. This could be, for example, good health or a healthy response to stress…We tend to interpret women’s preferences as reflecting those for cues to the characteristics that make a man a good long term partner.” “I can speculate that high testosterone, high cortisol levels may signal someone who is dominant and may make a good provider – high testosterone is certainly likely to be related to this,” she added.