Male beards have been in and out of style for centuries. But do beards send any signal to potential mates?
Yes, say researchers in Australia.
University of Queensland researchers found that facial hair plays a big part in love.
Researchers gathered more than 8,500 women and divided them into three groups. Each group saw pictures of the same men, whose photos were manipulated to show faces clean-shaved, with light stubble, with heavy stubble, and fully bearded.
The first group of women rated the pictures on overall sexual attractiveness. The second group rated the photos as to who was best for a short-term fling. The third group rated the photos for which man was a good prospect for marriage.
The study, published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, found that women rated men with heavy stubble as sexiest. Men with short stubble were rated the best for a short-term fling. But, while men with full beards were not rated high on the sexiest scale, they won the day as candidates for marriage and family. Researchers said participants rated men with full beards as older, more masculine, generous, sincere, and hard-working.
Thus, if a man wants to get married, he should grow a beard.
In another study in Brazil and the Czech Republic, Brazilians liked bigger beards overall. Czech women preferred beards like their fathers' beards. Gay men preferred beards similar to their own, according to the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
