Attractive women have higher expectations, the research
suggested
Attractive women may have the competitive edge by letting
their temper flare more, research suggests.
Researchers found women who rated themselves as pretty displayed a
war-like streak when fighting battles to get their own way.
The University of California interviewed 156 female students to
gauge their temperament and how they handled conflict.
The findings appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
In the study, the women who believed they were good looking were
more likely to respond angrily in disputes than those who rated
themselves as less attractive.
Attractive women also had higher expectations of what they
deserved.
Survival of the fittest
These were strategies that appeared to work because the same women
were better at resolving situations in their favour.
When the researchers, led by Dr Aaron Sell, scrutinised the
findings further, they found how attractive other people rated the
women also tallied.
And so did hair colour - with blondes rated as more attractive than
brunettes and redheads, as reported in an earlier version of this
story.
However, Dr Sell insisted to the BBC that this link was less strong
and his research had not set out to test this.
The researchers believe the findings have an evolutionary basis,
ensuring that the "fittest" people mate and have offspring.
In men, they found a similar link but with physical strength rather
than attractiveness per se.
Consultant psychologist Ingrid Collins, of The London Medical
Centre, said the latest findings were interesting but should be
interpreted with caution.
"This is a small study on a very limited sample group so it is not
possible to generalise."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8464990.stm
