Why do women prefer tough guys?

Dark Triad men: why do women prefer tough guys? We explain.

Film stars with a reputation for ruffianism such as James Dean, Charlie Sheen and Mickey Rourke have the same profile: the charismatic man with a conflicting personality. obey the same profile: the charismatic man, with a conflicting personality, aggressive, with bombproof self-confidence; capable of anything. The classic tough guy.

An intriguing facet that is a common denominator in a large number of people with this profile is the idea that they are much more attractive.. This could be a simple myth magnified by the mystique these guys exude, or it could be a real tendency.

Dark triad' guys are more popular

Some men wonder why they always make friends with the nice, attentive guys, while they go out and have sex with the nice guys.while they date and have relationships with complete cretins. Are men and women so different?

This paradox has caused rivers of ink (and tears!) to flow, and although many have formulated theories to explain it, the causes of the greater attractiveness of tough guys and women have not been thoroughly studied, the causes of the greater attractiveness of tough guys have not been studied in detail.. Fortunately, research conducted at the University of Durham has come to light this year that provides interesting insights into this question.

Male traits: tough guys?

Since human beings are social animals, how is it possible that this type of personality, which is somewhat antisocial, is preserved at an evolutionary level? And, above all, why is it particularly attractive?

A greater proportion of men than of women fit the psychological profile known as the dark triad o Dark Triad. This personality profile is observed in people with prominent narcissistic traits, psychopathic tendencies and Machiavellianism. This gives the subject a despotic attitude and a self-perception of superiority with respect to others.

Narcissism

Research shows that narcissism is present in many more men than women, regardless of the cultural background.regardless of the cultural substrate. It is a trait that is based on the excess of value that one arrogates to oneself. These are individuals with airs and graces, who consider themselves special and demand preferential treatment from others. They become angry if their merits and talents are not recognized. Several studies suggest that narcissism is linked to occasional mating in men, as it is associated with their "ability to compete with other men, and to discard sexual partners after intercourse". It was also observed that they are less monogamous because they tend to have more frequent and chained relationships.

2. Psychopathy

Psychopathy is detected in the lack of empathyThe subject bases his or her relationships on individual benefit criteria. They have a superfluous emotional response and antisocial behavior. Men with these traits tend to transmit a feigned superficial charm and a communicativeness that frequently provides them with scenarios for punctual relationships.

Machiavellianism

Finally, Machiavellianism is based on duplicity and the tendency to manipulate social relations in one's favor in a complex and opportune way.The latter is certainly complex and opportune. It also gives rise to short-term mating situations. They are usually people with a great emotional intelligence, however they use it for their own benefit. Research has revealed that the Machiavellian psychological profile is strongly associated with sexual promiscuity.

Studies carried out up to 2013 associated the dark triad profile with above-average sexual success.. However, the authors of the present research found that the previous studies were based on data provided by the participants themselves, which could have distorted the results, as the dark triad participants may have magnified the amount of sexual intercourse they would have had. Thus, the authors of the following study wondered about women's opinions, and designed their study to elucidate why women find dark triad men more attractive, if such a tendency is indeed true.

What really attracts women?

In a previous article, we wondered whether opposites attract, and the conclusions that psychology provides in this regard are certainly interesting.

The study conducted by G. Carter, A. Campbell and S. Muncer (2013) set out to test whether the Dark Triad categorization really was a male psychological profile with greater success among women.

The researchers gathered a group of 128 women between the ages of 18 and 36, who were presented with one man with psychological characteristics characteristic of the Dark Triad and another with a normal psychological profile, without the elements characteristic of the Dark Triad. After they finished watching the presentations, they were asked which of the two men they had found more attractive.

The results were as follows: men with Dark Triad personalities (narcissistic, Machiavellian and psychopathic) were rated higher than men in the control group..

It seems that the three Dark Triad traits themselves represented aspects of personality that were attractive, apart from other traits such as extroversion, which also improved the average.

According to the study by G. Carter, A. Campbell and S. Muncer, combined with previous studies in this field, it seems clear that the antisocial traits characteristic of the dark triad seem to provide social and marital success to this type of subjectThis allows them to develop interactions where the communicative capacity, the good image and the ability to make their partner feel special provide them with the tools to attract and seduce. However, in the medium and long term this success would be highly questionable, as they would be unable to establish medium and long term relationships.

The bad boy attractiveness hypothesis

Carter and his colleagues offered two hypotheses about this phenomenon. On the one hand, they considered that sexual selection may play an important role in this phenomenon.. This would indicate that women detect the signs of these "masculine qualities" that offer good indicators of reproduction. In terms of one-off relationships, this would explain the attraction that women feel towards this personality profile; self-confident, reckless, irreverent.

In their second hypothesis, they put forward the factor of sexual conflict. Women might respond to the man's ability to show his qualities, thus differentiating himself from the rest. Dark Triad men are highly skilled manipulators and seducers, which would make it easy for them to present an ideal image of themselves to a potential partner. Another thing is that women would also choose this type of man to be their husband, or the father of their children, since, according to the study of D. Asquith (2014), only las mujeres con perfiles cercanos a la tríada oscura preferían hombres del mismo perfil de personalidad para sus relaciones conyugales a largo plazo.

Referencias bibliográficas:

• Asquith, D., Lyons, M., Watson, H., & Jonason, P. (2014). Birds of feather flock together – Evidence for assortative mating for the Dark Triad traits Personality and Individual Differences
• Carter, G., Campbell, A., & Muncer, S. (2014). The Dark Triad personality: Attractiveness to women Personality and Individual Differences
• Carter, G., Campbell, A., & Muncer, S. (2014). The Dark Triad: Beyond a – ‘male’ mating strategy Personality and Individual Differences