Stressed men prefer something different!

[dieseltaylor]

Not waht you may think - its not about food : )

Romantics may tell us that opposites attract, but, according to scientists, if you find yourself irresistibly drawn to someone who looks nothing like you, it may mean that you've been working too hard. A study published online this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggests that men under stress are more likely to find physically dissimilar women attractive.

Previous research has shown that couples tend to have similar facial characteristics. Some evolutionary biologists suggest this is because we subconsciously see people who look like us as more trustworthy. However, research in animals has shown that individuals under stress are willing to mate with a wider variety of partners. Experimental psychologist Johanna Lass-Hennemann and colleagues at the University of Trier, Germany, wondered whether this might also be true for people.

They recruited 50 male students and instructed half of them to hold their right hand in ice water for 3 minutes, a harmless but effective form of stress. They then showed each subject a series of photographs of nude women. Unbeknownst to the young men, some of the images had been subtly modified—the women's faces had been morphed with a picture of the subject's face to produce an image that, although still apparently feminine, had a subtle resemblance to the subject himself. While looking at the pictures, each man experienced a brief burst of intense white noise. Electrodes attached to his face measured how much he flinched on hearing the sound. This is a well-established method of measuring instinctive attraction to an image, given that those in a more upbeat frame of mind flinch less.

As predicted, unstressed subjects were more attracted to the doctored images that resembled their own faces. Stressed subjects, however, actively favored the original pictures that were less familiar. "This was not exactly expected," says Lass-Hennemann.

The team suspect that the explanation may lie in evolutionary biology. Humans, like other animals, strive for the survival of their genes into future generations. When conditions seem favorable, the researchers suggest, men have the option of picking physically similar mates, whom they subconsciously deem dependable partners who will nurture their offspring. But in stressful times, during which human survival is less guaranteed, men would be more willing to risk a physically dissimilar partner in order to father as many children as possible.

The team want to investigate the phenomenon further. At the top of their list is finding out whether female sexual preferences are affected in the same way. "In theory, women should be more choosy than men in mating decisions because they don't have the opportunity to reproduce as much," says Lass-Hennemann.

Fellow experimental psychologist Ben Jones of Aberdeen University in the United Kingdom considers the findings meaningful but questions whether the difference in instinctive attraction is sexual in nature. "The authors make very strong claims about the effect of self-resemblance on mate preference," says Jones. He points to previous research suggesting that people's reactions to familiar and unfamiliar faces differ even more widely when those faces belong to individuals of the same sex, perhaps because they subconsciously see resemblance to family members in similar faces.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/03/stressed-men-fancy-someone-diffe.html?etoc

[MeatEtr]

Kool, so next time I get drunk and bang a fattie I can blame it on the stress. It's always good to have more excuses.

[Other Means]

Kool, so next time I get drunk and bang a fattie I can blame it on the stress. It's always good to have more excuses.

No, this is about someone who doesn't look like you

[dieseltaylor]

: )

,,,,,''''

[costard]

Hang on,

Stressed subjects, however, actively favored the original pictures that were less familiar.

means that

But in stressful times, during which human survival is less guaranteed, men would be more willing to risk a physically dissimilar partner in order to father as many children as possible.

is the incorrect interpretation. The stressed men are actively seeking a dissimilar mate; they're avoiding risk, not "willing" to put up with it.

I'm not sure that less stressed individuals necessarily survive more often: it is likely that there is a spectrum of direct effect and individual and biological tolerances.

[Tero]

By costard

is the incorrect interpretation. The stressed men are actively seeking a dissimilar mate; they're avoiding risk, not "willing" to put up with it.

I'd say they are willing to seek ANY mate, similar or dissimlar.

I'm not sure that less stressed individuals necessarily survive more often: it is likely that there is a spectrum of direct effect and individual and biological tolerances.

I'd go for the more ellaborate explanation: the survival of the species is not in jeopardy as suggested in the text, only the survival of the individual.

When your own particular mix of genes is more likely to be discontinued you will mate with any female of the species in a hope to perpetuate your genetical heritage. Sure, the underlying drive is to perpetuate the species but that is stretching the point a bit further than is logically implied in the conducted tests.

[costard]

Tero, fair point: but if it were ANY mate then they wouldn't "actively" seek a dissimilar mate, they'd jump on the first available. The results of the experiment seem to describe stressed males being more discerning than the un-stressed. If heightened accuity of perception matters in times of stress (and is delivered to some extent by hormonal changes as the body reacts to stress), this wouldn't be a surprising result: choosing a similar looking mate is laziness borne out of a relaxed lifestyle.

[Lt Belenko]

I've always been attracted to dissimilar mates. Those with dissimilar parts then I have.

[Michael Emrys]

When your own particular mix of genes is more likely to be discontinued you will mate with any female of the species in a hope to perpetuate your genetical heritage.

I suspect the case with most men is that they mate in the hopes of getting their rocks off. Perpetuating their genetic heritage comes in a distant second. [edit: A very distant second.]

Michael

[noxnoctum]

Well I must be stressed out all the time cause I'm a tall blonde guy with blue-green eyes who likes petite brunettes with dark eyes , and "dissimilar parts" as Belenko put it .

And after some thought, I decided that Emrys is absolutely correct .

[Michael Emrys]

I have immortalized you in my signature. You are now elevated to the stature of a lesser god.

Michael

[Kanonier Reichmann]

Well, after some thought, I've come to the conclusion that Emrys is an absolute nutter!

Does that qualify?

Regards

KR

[Tero]

By Michael Emrys

I suspect the case with most men is that they mate in the hopes of getting their rocks off. Perpetuating their genetic heritage comes in a distant second. [edit: A very distant second.]

I agree. Sometimes perpetuating the genetic heritage is even undesireable.

It is interesting to read how different levels of intoxication affect how people choose prospective partners. The premise is of course intoxication alleviates stress.....

[Tero]

By costard

if it were ANY mate then they wouldn't "actively" seek a dissimilar mate, they'd jump on the first available.

That is the point. If you are stressed you seek diversity.

The results of the experiment seem to describe stressed males being more discerning than the un-stressed. If heightened accuity of perception matters in times of stress (and is delivered to some extent by hormonal changes as the body reacts to stress), this wouldn't be a surprising result: choosing a similar looking mate is laziness borne out of a relaxed lifestyle.

I think it is safe to say say prostitutes behind frontlines find it easier to find business than prostitutes hanging around bars frequented by stressed bankers. Yet, IIRC, bankers are under similar levels of stress combat pilots are.

[costard]

Tero

Ok, if the stressed males are jumping on the first available mate, there would be no preference shown between the similar and dissimilar images. But the results showed that the stressed individuals were preferring the dissimilar image: that cognitive ability is impared by stress is old news.

Bankers will tell you that a business does better when demand for the service or goods is higher.

[Tero]

By costard

Ok, if the stressed males are jumping on the first available mate, there would be no preference shown between the similar and dissimilar images.

I'm guestioning the study on its premise that all stress is similar. Doing studies in a laboratory by inducing short bouts of stress and then having the test subjects pick between images in rapid succession is not IMO very indicative. It well may by that the stressed men picked undoctored pictures over pictures doctored to resemble the subjects themselves only because under stress their senses and wits were/are more susceptible to discern between what is real and what is not real.

But the results showed that the stressed individuals were preferring the dissimilar image: that cognitive ability is impared by stress is old news.

True. But when cognitive ability is impaired incognitive abilities take over. In animals mating with your father/mother/son/daughter is the least preferable option. The test subjects did pick dissimilar pictures. But the similar pictures were doctored to resemble the test subjects themselves. Thus I do not find it that surprising the subjects did not pick what their subconsciousness told them looked too much like a blood relative.

Bankers will tell you that a business does better when demand for the service or goods is higher.

True. But the demanded quality of service is not the same in a bar filled with hot shot combat pilots as in a bar filled with hot shot bankers.

[Tero]

And on second thought the combat pilot level of stress is actually present in husbands following their wives in shopping trips.

No wonder so much flirting is going on in stores and supermarkets....

[Michael Emrys]

Sometimes perpetuating the genetic heritage is even undesireable.

That's what keeps the condom manufacturers in business.

Michael