Study says bearded men are better for long term relationships

Researchers from the University of Queensland have found women consider bearded men more suitable for long-term relationships.

This is the result of a survey titled ‘ The Masculinity Paradox: Facial Masculinity and Beardedness Interact to Determine Women’s Ratings of Men’s Facial Attractiveness’.

The study was published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

Study results showed that facial hair is a plus point that most women look for in romantic interests

The study asked 8,520 women to rate men with and without facial hair on the basis of relationship longevity.

“Male-typical facial features such as a pronounced brow ridge and a more robust jawline may signal underlying health, whereas beards may signal men’s age and masculine social dominance,” the study read.

“However, masculine faces are judged as more attractive for short-term relationships over less masculine faces, whereas beards are judged as more attractive than clean-shaven faces for long-term relationships.

“Masculinized and, to an even greater extent, feminized faces were less attractive than unmanipulated faces when all were clean‐shaven, and stubble and beards dampened the polarizing effects of extreme masculinity and femininity.”

“Our findings suggest that beardedness may be attractive when judging long-term relationships as a signal of intrasexual formidability and the potential to provide direct benefits to females.”