What women want — a man with feminine features

WOMEN see “masculine” men as unsuitable long-term partners, new research shows.

Similarly, psychologists found that men with feminine facial features are seen as more committed and less likely to cheat on their partners.

The study asked more than 400 British men and women to judge digitally altered pictures of male faces made to look more masculine or feminine.

The participants were asked to predict personality traits including sexual behaviour and parenting skills based on what they saw.

Men with masculine faces, with features such as a square jaw, larger nose and smaller eyes, were classed as significantly more dominant, less faithful, worse parents and as having personalities that were less warm.

In contrast their more “feminine” counterparts had finer facial features with fuller lips, wide eyes and thinner, more curved eyebrows.

Psychologists from Durham and St Andrews universities conducted the research.

They said the research supports earlier studies about masculinity and perceptions of personality and gives further insight into what people see in others when choosing potential partners.

Dr Lynda Boothroyd, from Durham’s department of psychology, said: “This research shows a high amount of agreement between women about what they see, personality wise, when asked to ‘judge a book by its cover’.

“They may well use that impression of someone to decide whether or not to engage with that person.

“That decision-making process all depends on what a woman is looking for in a relationship.”

The study asked participants to complete a web-based test. Pairs of pictures that only showed the face without any hair, ears, neck, shoulders or clothing visible, were presented side by side.

The participants were asked to select which face they thought was more of a particular trait and how much more so by clicking on a point of the scale.

Traits selected for judgment were dominance, ambition, wealth, faithfulness, commitment, parenting, and warmth.