Men need to be exceptionally attractive to tempt women into casual sex, while men are far less choosy, according to Achim Schützwohl, whose study into casual sex has just been published in the journal Human Nature.
Schützwohl, from Brunel University in the UK, looked at the influence of an imagined requestor's physical attractiveness on men's and women's willingness to accept three distinct offers: go out, go to their apartment, and go to bed with them. A total of nearly 1,000 students from the US, Germany and Italy completed the questionnaire. They were asked to imagine the member of the opposite sex as either "slightly unattractive", "moderately attractive" or "exceptionally attractive".
The researchers found that the requestor's looks affected men and women differently. Across all three levels of requestor attractiveness, men were more likely to go out, go to their apartment and go to bed with them than were women. German men were less likely to go out with the requestor and go to their apartment than American and Italian men, while Italian men were more likely to go to bed with the requestor than were American men.
For each of the three offers, men were more likely to accept when the woman was moderately or exceptionally attractive than when she was slightly unattractive, but whether she was moderately or exceptionally attractive made no difference. Women however placed more importance on the requestor's good looks. They were more likely to accept the apartment and bed requests from an exceptionally attractive man.
"While men are not entirely insensitive to their requestor's attractiveness, women have higher standards and are more likely to engage in casual sex with an exceptionally attractive man than with a less attractive man," noted Schützwohl.
Related:
Women attracted to men that are "just not that into them"
Casual Sex: Males Only Need Apply
Taking Men At Face Value
Source: Human Nature
