Men with beards tend to be stable romantic partners: study
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They are more stable romantic partners than clean-shaved ones
(Web Desk) - According to a study published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour, men with beards aren’t looking out for new partners, as they are just good at keeping the one they have.
The study also reported that men with clean shaves are more “mate-seeking.”
“Men having more facial hair reported less mate-seeking motivation, but more mate-retention and kin care motivation,” reported the study, which looked at 414 men, aged 18 to 40, and examined their “facial hair enhancement motivations.”
In other words, “bearded men are in it for keeps,” study co-author Professor Peter Jonason, from Warsaw’s University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, said.
Bearded men are less likely to have a fast life history strategy (or seek numerous partners) and instead, they invest more in others both romantically and familially, Jonason told The Times UK.
The simple reasoning behind this is based on the care required to maintain a well-groomed beard, opined the study.
“Beards, as opposed to say stubble, are difficult and time-consuming to grow. Men with full beards may signal their disciplined nature,” Jonason said.
Although maintaining a clean-shaven face also requires the effort of frequent facial hair removal, more facial hair requires more effort to keep it clean, said study.
Regular care of facial hair requires time, effort, and resources. Thus, facial hair enhancement motivation may be related to the desire to present oneself to other people as a well-organized person.
The study stressed that facial hair maintenance was a key point, as “growing bushy, unhealthy-looking, or dispersed facial hair may discredit a man rather than give him an advantage.”
The authors claim that it is “the first study on facial hair enhancement motivation in men,” and say further research is needed to examine the spectrum of facial hair types.
The overall point of the study was that “having more facial hair may be used by men to inform other people that their social motives shift from focusing on the mating market to focusing on long-term romantic relationships and family.”
