Study: Women Who Have Less Attractive Partners Than Themselves Are Happier

Oh, the trials of the daily beauty routine: the hair curling, the makeup, the tanning, and of course the dreaded schleps to the gym. It can get to feeling like a life sentence. It’s enough to make any woman miserable, but what if there was a better way?

Well, research says there is a solution: Marry someone ugly!

We’ve all witnessed this phenomenon—the hot lady walking hand in hand with her balding, lumpy mate. The question is, though—is she happier?

To answer this question researchers at Florida State University, developed an experiment.

They examined 113 newly-weds to find out if physical attractiveness when comparing husband and wife was an indicator of happiness. Specifically, they were using the factor of whether the women dieted as a way of measuring overall contentment.

The hypothesis makes sense. A good-looking man is much more likely to attract other women. Therefore, the wife is going to feel more threatened. She will put pressure on herself to keep up her physical appearance through diet and exercise.

The results of the experiment validated this theory. Women who were with less attractive men were more satisfied with themselves and therefore dieted less.

“The relationship between women’s objective physical attractiveness and their dieting motivations and behaviors may depend upon their social environment—specifically, their romantic partners’ attractiveness—such that less attractive women with more attractive partners may be particularly motivated to diet,” according to researcher Tania Reynolds.

What’s more is that the less attractive husbands worked harder to please their hottie wives. They dressed better, bought her gifts, pitched in around the house. In other words, ugly men make up for their lack of visual appeal through other means. Sounds good to me!

According to the study, “The husbands seemed to be basically more committed, more invested in pleasing their wives when they felt that they were getting a pretty good deal.”

Basically, they followed the happy wife, happy life mantra.

No wonder the women with less attractive husbands were so content. They get to relax and enjoy a life of being happy in their own skin.

Hey, if it makes for a better marriage then more power to ‘em. It sure beats getting a gym membership.

Please Share With Your Friends and Family!

Note: Peace Quarters is an open platform for contributors to share their thoughts, experiences, and wisdom. If you’d wish to contribute sign up to our expert’s program here!

About The Author: Alexa Opal Hamilton is the author of three books and her genres range from dystopian Sci-fi to Romance. She is also a comedy writer who has written sitcom spec scripts, along with hilariously animated blogs and comic strips. Born and raised in west Texas, Alexa now travels all over North America (usually moving twice a year) with her hockey-player husband and two children. When she’s not writing, Alexa enjoys reading, running and spending time with her family.