Men Date for Looks According to New Dating "Research"

(Online Dating Industry Journal) The Associated Press has published a news article stating that a new research study shows that men date for looks. From the article:

"Science is confirming what most women know: When given the choice for a mate, men go for good looks... Their study involved 26 men and 20 women in Munich, Germany... Men's choices did not reflect their stated preferences, the researchers concluded. Instead, men appeared to base their decisions mostly on the women's physical attractiveness."

You can read the complete article here.

Joe's Comments
The study had 20 male participants and 26 female participants at one speed dating event in Germany. Does that really quantify enough to qualify as a true "research study"? Then to publish it in the United States as newsworthy is a sad state of media respectability.

Comments

[sm]

All over the blogosphere today, people are quick to criticize the research and not question the media reporting on it. The content of the AP story appears flawed, and that so many media outlets uncritically pick this stuff up is frustrating, as you point out. First, if there is a reference to this research in today's PNAS, I missed it. Second, just a few minutes of online research tells us that this story was reported by, amongst others, a NYTimes blogger back in April, and that blog entry did a much better job of summarizing the research. That blog entry also points us to articles published by Peter Todd that elaborate on his work. I'm not defending the research, as I don't know it in detail, but before we pass judgment on the individuals being reported on, we must be more critical consumers of badly reported stories.
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/how-dont-i-love-thee/
http://www.indiana.edu/~abcwest/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.Research

[Jason was here]

Ummm can I say DUHHH??? When we meet someone we see them first so its only natural. No one wants an ugly spouse....
Its who we are....women do it too. and whats wrong with it?

[James Houran]

The study itself was lackluster and nothing new or even publishable. Moreover, the findings are not novel -- we've known for a long time than men AND women both put high value on looks at the outset. And that is biology; so no one should feel guilty or superficial for it.

Thanks,

James Houran, Ph.D.
Online Dating Magazine

[Mark Firehammer]

I absolutely second that, there should be no guilt about the biology of attraction! I'll add that, of course we've also known for a long time the biology of attraction does not end with appearance. There is the mysterious interaction of invisible ingredients known as chemistry to consider as well. There is a relatively new Web application called Compatikey that takes the "mysterious" out of chemistry with an ingenious system that presents a visual representation of chemistry experienced in past relationships so you can identify the combinations that work for you and the combinations that don't. Forget about guilt, that's empowerment!

[sam]

Hoops.....who do not want to have a partner with good looking? I guess no one.
That's why I choose to date a model on millionairematch.com. And she admitted that she cares my look more than others. Is there anything wrong?

[Love and Dating]

Looks don't last but it's nice while they do. Us men can't help the way we are programmed can we?
It's in our genes just like women like strong confident men.

[Davids Free Dating Site]

Chemestry is a very inportant ingredient. A mutual attraction starts with chemestry on both sexes part. I have a blind friend that can actually tell beautiful women just by his other senses. Voice and smell play as big a roll in determining sex apeal.

[CC]

Wow, this is a no brainer. How much did they spend on that study?