When choosing a prospective partner you’ll often consider your chemistry or what you might have in common, but research out of the University of Queensland has found facial hair to be an important factor.
A recent study published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology revealed that having a beard enhanced a man’s long-term attractiveness to women.
The team used computer graphic manipulation to morph male faces into a range of furry stages – clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards. 8,520 women were then tasked with rating each face for physical attractiveness in general, for a short-term fling or a long-term relationship.
Harking back to caveman days, researchers suggest that beards could be considered attractive to women as they signal “intrasexual formidability” and “the potential to provide direct benefits to females” such as enhanced fertility or survival.
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