How to Pick the Right Partner
Determining Sexual Attitudes from a Person’s Face
Have you ever felt you knew how a person might behave in bed or in a long-term relationship just by looking at them? Research about the dating game shows that you can interpret sexual behaviors or attitudes just by looking at a person’s face (recognizing certain signs of flirting never hurts, either. See below for information on stages of flirting and signs of flirting).
Judging Sexual Attitudes from Facial Photos
Research from Durham, St Andrews and Aberdeen Universities reveal that faces hold clues to sexual behaviors, and that young men and women look for completely opposite things in relationships. This information can help people make better decisions about partners, especially if they know the type of relationship they’re looking for in the dating game (a long-term relationship versus a casual affair, for instance).
“Previous studies have shown that people can judge a lot about a person from their face, including things like health and even some personality traits like introversion,” says Dr Ben Jones from the University of Aberdeen's Face Research Lab. “But this is the first study to show that people are also sensitive to subtle facial signals about the type of romantic relationships that others might enjoy.”
You instinctively know how to pick the right partner.
Choosing the Right Lover
In this study, participants looked at facial photographs of people of the opposite sex, and chose which face they thought would be more open to short-term sexual relationships, one-night-stands, or the idea of sex without love. The researchers then compared their judgments with actual sexual attitudes and behaviors, which were determined through a detailed questionnaire.
The participants judged who was more interested in short-term sexual relationships with a 72% accuracy rate. Women who were open to casual sex were seen as more attractive. Men who were perceived to be interested in short-term relationships were seen as more masculine-looking.
Second Guessing the Gut Reaction
However, personal interviews later revealed that the participants weren’t always confident in their perceptions. “Our results suggest that although some people can judge the sexual strategy of others simply from looking at their face, people are not always sure about their judgments possibly because the cues are very subtle,” says psychologist and lead author Lynda Boothroyd from Durham University.
How to Pick the Right Partner
Are you looking for a casual affair, one night stand, or long-term relationship? Once you know what your intentions are, picking the right partner may be easier than you think. The tricky part of the dating game is not getting siderailed. For instance, if you’re looking for a long-term relationship and you know in your gut that a potential partner - someone you're attracted to - is only interested in casual sex, then you need to stay focused on your goal: the long-term relationship. Dallying with the wrong person can negatively affect your self-esteem, future plans, and even your health.
If you found How to Pick the Right Partner interesting, you might be interested in:
Source: Durham University, “Why the Dating Game is Taken at Face Value.” April 9, 2008.
