Women Prefer Men with Wider Faces for Short-term Relationships: Study

Women consider men with wide faces more attractive for short-term relationships, a latest study suggests.

Researchers studied over 150 single men and women aged between 18 and 32. They participated in a speed-dating event. The interaction between male and female participants lasted not more than three 3 minutes.

The authors used software to rate the facial width-to-height, fWHR, ratio in men. Men with higher fWHR were rated as more dominant and women showed interest in them. Not only that, they even considered these men for a second date.

"The fact that women wanted to see these men again suggests that our findings are robust - women aren't just saying they are interested, they're actually willing to be contacted by these men," said Katherine Valentine of Singapore Management University in a press release.

"High male fWHR has previously been associated with surviving in hand-to-hand combat, aggressiveness, self-perceived power, and CEO's financial success," Valentine said.

"Previous studies have found that women prefer more dominant men for short-term relationships, but almost all of these studies were based in the lab and did not involve an interaction that could actually lead to mating and dating."

"Our study shows it's also a reasonably good indicator of perceived dominance - not only that, it piques women's interest in a face-to-face speed-dating setting."

The researchers also said that the finding remained the same even after accounting for the men's age and independently rated attractiveness.

Furthermore, perceived dominance might explain the link between higher facial width-to-height ratio, and greater interest in a short-term relationship, according to researchers.

he findings are published in the journal Psychological Science.