A woman’s attractiveness and her partner’s attractiveness played a part in their motivation to diet. Less attractive women with more attractive partners were more likely to feel that they should diet to maintain their physiques, while more attractive women with less attractive partners didn’t feel as obligated to diet.
In the study, researchers looked at the diet motivations of 223 newlywed spouses, then determined each person’s objective attractiveness by taking a photo and coding the attractiveness of his or her facial and bodily features.
“The results reveal that having a physically attractive husband may have negative consequences for wives, especially if those wives are not particularly attractive,” one of the researchers, Tania Reynolds, told The Sun.
The same didn’t hold true for men in the study whose wives were more attractive than them. Instead, they seemed more keen to exhibit their dedication to their partners.
“The husbands seemed to be basically more committed, more invested in pleasing their wives when they felt that they were getting a pretty good deal,” Reynolds said.
