Women prefer bearded men over clean-shaven ones: Study

Are bearded men more attractive?

Dear men, it seems your beard, or the lack of it, can make or break your love life. Going by the findings of a study, women find men with facial hair more attractive than clean-shaven ones, and think they make better partners in the long run. Maybe it’s the time you start investing more in a beard gel than shaving cream, eh?

The study

The researchers at the University of Queensland surveyed more than 8,500 women to rate men with and without facial hair and asked them and a bunch of relationship-related questions.

The same face was shown with multiple variations

The photos of men were tweaked using computer graphics to present a variety of profiles with full facial hair, clean-shaven, stubble, moustache and full beards.

Bearded men make long-term partners

The study concluded that women preferred bearded men as more compatible for marriage and the clean-shaven ones more suitable for a casual relationship. Seriously?

What the report mentioned

As per the report, “Male-typical facial features such as a pronounced brow ridge and a more robust jawline may signal underlying health, whereas beards may signal men’s age and masculine social dominance. However, masculine faces are judged as more attractive for short-term relationships over less masculine faces, whereas beards are judged as more attractive than clean-shaven faces for long-term relationships.”

In simpler words…

In simpler words, people with beard are considered to have perfect combination of masculine and feminine features, making them more attractive for long-term. We bet not every woman seconds this logic.

Do they make better dad?

We are confused how a beard can determine a man’s character but according to another study published in journal Evolution & Human Behavior, women believe bearded men make better fathers as well.

Another study

Another study done by a dating site concluded 60 per cent women found men with facial hair attractive. Not just this, almost 50 per cent of the participants chose men with a beard and moustache as ideal partners.