Ovulation Goggles, Ovulating Women Perceive Bad Boys as Good Long-Term Partners

Love may be blind…but not when you’re ovulating. Yep, according to a new study out of the University of Texas at San Antonio, during ovulation we women are likely to be attracted to sexy, rebellious men even though they offer no sign of being a reliable partner. The study findings are pretty shocking and hilarious:

The first part of the study involved women looking at online dating profiles of two types of men—one “reliable," one “sexy”—during the most fertile and least fertile phases of their menstrual cycle. The women were then interviewed about what kind of parental contribution they believed the men would make (i.e. cooking, grocery shopping, caring for baby, household chores). While motorcycle riding and bartending were nowhere near this list, women near ovulation, the most fertile phase of their cycle, reckoned that the sexy man would be the greater contributor to those household and childcare chores.

In the second part of the study, women interacted with actual male actors playing either “sexy cads” or “reliable dads” during similar phases of low and high fertility. Ovulating women again considered the sexy, rebellious, handsome actors, to be better fathers, believing they would contribute more to childcare. Interestingly, when these women were asked what kind of partner the sexy cads would make for another woman, the participants would quickly point out the man’s shortcomings—even though she believed the bad boy would be a better father for her own kids. Looks like Warren Beatty syndrome hasn’t evolved much in the last 40 years (i.e., he’ll change for me…oh yes, he will).

So, the hormonal influence of ovulation apparently warps our view of prospective male partners. Or, as the lead researcher Kristina Durante put it, “When looking at the sexy cad through ovulation goggles, Mr. Wrong look[s] exactly like Mr. Right." Maybe this is why Snookie changes vampire boyfriends about once a month. Hey, it’s real life!

Source: University of Texas at San Antonio College of Business (2012). Why Women Choose Bad Boys: Ovulating Women Perceive Sexy Cads as Good Dads. Science Daily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120514134301.htm

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Dr. Kathy McMahon commented (11/10/2012)

This was also a point made by evolutionary biologist Robin Baker in his 1996 book called "Sperm Wars." I believe he argues that it has to do with the diversification of the gene pool.