Beauty and the Beast: why gorgeous women marry less attractive guys

Scientific minds in this country work overtime to answer the most pertinent questions of our existence. For example, what was Julia Roberts thinking when she married Lyle Lovett? Or how did Paulina Porizkova end up with Rick Ocasek? Fear not, we now know why.

The University of Tennessee researchers videotaped 82 married couples discussing some personal problems for 10 minutes. Using widely accepted beauty criteria such as face symmetry and waist-to-hip ratio, the scientists rated the attractiveness of every participant on a 1 to 10 scale and assessed the “looks compatibility” factor for each couple. In the experiment, a third of the women were more attractive than their husbands, another third was deemed less attractive, and the rest were about the same.

Guess what? The couples with better looking wives were more positive and supportive in their interactions. Behavioral psychologists agree that this makes perfect sense: men are attuned to their partners’ beauty and are always aware of the implications. Attractive men are thus arguably less committed to their marriages because somewhere on the back of their minds they feel they can do better - grass is greener on the other side of the fence. On the other hand, males who “scored” gorgeous wives enjoy the prestige of having an arm candy and try hard to keep their women happy. They exceeded their own expectations and are now determined to maintain the status quo.

Notice that woman’s beauty makes both partners more kind and encouraging to each other. In the case of a less attractive wife, she must sense her husband’s attitude and grow resentful. Beautiful women, on the other hand, bask in their spouses’ adoration and support and feel more secure. Husbands’ looks, as it turns out, matter little.

Before you comment on male “superficiality”, however, consider this: women are just as attuned to their mates’ height and salary as men are to their wives’ beauty.