What do these couples have in common, other than the fact that theyre all extremely famous? You guessed it: All four couples consist of a gorgeous woman who married how to say this gently? a man who was shortchanged in the looks department.
Maybe youre thinking this isnt so unusual. After all, there have been many instances in which beautiful women were attracted to men of wealth and power, regardless of what they looked like.
Thats all true, agreed Benjamin Karney, professor of social psychology and co-director of the Relationship Institute at UCLA. But the key factor in determining whether such "odd" couples are happy in their marriages seems to depend on the "relative attractiveness" between the man and the woman, he explained. His research suggests that in cases where attractive women are married to less attractive men, the chances for happiness are fairly high.
"The [less attractive] husbands seemed to be basically more committed, more invested in pleasing their wives when they felt that they were getting a pretty good deal. Because for men, the attractiveness of their wives is part of the deal," said Karney, who is also an adjunct behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation.
"For women, thats not part of the deal. The deal that women get isnt being with an attractive man. Its being with a protective man, or a wealthy man, or an ambitious man, or even a sensitive man. So they didnt care as much about the appearance of their husbands."
When studying the opposite occurrence attractive men who had married less attractive women the researchers found that the husbands were less satisfied in their marriages, and less helpful in the interactions with their wives.
"They were basically saying, Huh, looks like I settled a little bit, " Karney said. "They were saying, Im more attractive than you, but Im still with you. But they didnt seem to be quite as motivated to help out their wives when they were more attractive than their wives."
Whats interesting is that the wives own attractiveness didnt seem to matter they were more affected by their husbands satisfaction, Karney noted. When their husbands were happy, the wives were happy, and when their husbands were unhappy, they were unhappy. They didnt seem as responsive, or sensitive, to how attractive their husbands were.
Do looks really matter? Yes and no, depending on your gender / UCLA Today
Maybe youre thinking this isnt so unusual. After all, there have been many instances in which beautiful women were attracted to men of wealth and power, regardless of what they looked like.
Thats all true, agreed Benjamin Karney, professor of social psychology and co-director of the Relationship Institute at UCLA. But the key factor in determining whether such "odd" couples are happy in their marriages seems to depend on the "relative attractiveness" between the man and the woman, he explained. His research suggests that in cases where attractive women are married to less attractive men, the chances for happiness are fairly high.
"The [less attractive] husbands seemed to be basically more committed, more invested in pleasing their wives when they felt that they were getting a pretty good deal. Because for men, the attractiveness of their wives is part of the deal," said Karney, who is also an adjunct behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation.
"For women, thats not part of the deal. The deal that women get isnt being with an attractive man. Its being with a protective man, or a wealthy man, or an ambitious man, or even a sensitive man. So they didnt care as much about the appearance of their husbands."
When studying the opposite occurrence attractive men who had married less attractive women the researchers found that the husbands were less satisfied in their marriages, and less helpful in the interactions with their wives.
"They were basically saying, Huh, looks like I settled a little bit, " Karney said. "They were saying, Im more attractive than you, but Im still with you. But they didnt seem to be quite as motivated to help out their wives when they were more attractive than their wives."
Whats interesting is that the wives own attractiveness didnt seem to matter they were more affected by their husbands satisfaction, Karney noted. When their husbands were happy, the wives were happy, and when their husbands were unhappy, they were unhappy. They didnt seem as responsive, or sensitive, to how attractive their husbands were.
Do looks really matter? Yes and no, depending on your gender / UCLA Today
