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Why You like Bad Boys

By Smitten, Glamour Magazine

 

Now that I’m 30, I’ve totally outgrown the bad boy phase, just like I’ve stopped wearing miniskirts, taking gummy vitamins, and listening to the Miley Cyrus station on Pandora. Oh wait, I still do those things and I still like bad boys. Well, at least science figured out the reason for that one…

To be honest, I’m not really embarrassed of any of those things except the penchant for bad boys. It just never turns out well. But luckily, it’s not my fault. According to a new study published today, women choose bad boys because their hormones make them. Evidently, in a totally non-counterintuitive move, an ovulating woman’s hormones influence her to pick sexier men over more obviously dependable men.

Researchers had women look at dating profiles of either sexy men or reliable men during periods of high and low fertility. (For the record, I don’t think those things are necessarily mutually exclusive, but apparently they were for this study.) Women who were near ovulation guessed that the sexier man would contribute more to parenting and domestic duties. In a second study where the women interacted directly with male actors playing the roles of sexy cad and reliable dad, they once again thought the sexy guy would contribute more to childcare, but…only as her partner. Interestingly, the women would point out the bad boy’s shortcomings when asked how he would father children with other women, but when it came to imagining their own child, women believed the cad would be a really great father.

As study researcher Kristina Durante said, “Under the hormonal influence of ovulation, women delude themselves into thinking that the sexy bad boys will become devoted partners and better dads.” As our own Meredith Turits said, “I love when we can blame things on hormones.” Hormones. Preventing you from going out with that nice boy since you started ovulating. Thanks a lot!

Do you go for bad boys sometimes? Or have you evolved past the hormones to love the sweet, reliable dudes we really should all go for?

Original Story