Study: Women more attracted to men who look like them

They say that opposites attract, but any long time observer knows that while that cliche is often true, it doesn’t mean they “stick”. The anecdote is also largely to be a reference to personality differences, but new research is suggesting when it comes to physical appearance at least, women are more likely to be attracted to their masculine mirror image and not their polar opposite.

Researchers at the University of St Andrews not only found that women are more attracted to men who look like them, but that women are more trusting of men sharing similar features to themselves.

David and Victoria Beckham, Kelly Osbourne and Luke Worrellor  Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis? The UK Daily Mail wonders out loud: Were these celebrity couples drawn to each other because of their similar looks?

Perhaps this is the reason it didnt work out between Tom Cruise, a shorter than average brunette and Nicole Kidman, herself a tall and leggy blonde. After that relationship, Tom paired with Penelope Cruz, a girl sharing some of Kidmans features, but with the dimmer switch turned down and who even shared a homophone last name. Cruise then of course settled with the physical match Katie Holmes.

In the study, scientists used computer graphics to manipulate men’s faces before women rated their attractiveness. Faces were made to look more or less masculine, and more or less like the woman looking at the picture. The women rated the faces for attractiveness.

The results were that women like two things when rating a man hot or not: masculinity, and themselves.