Men are such fickle creatures, aren't they? One day they say a woman's body is her most important attribute, the next it's a pretty face. And now scientists think they know why.
Flickr, Franco Folini
According to psychologists at the University of Texas, men are more interested in your body if they're looking for a short-term relationship. But when they're on the hunt for something more long term, it's not your body but your face that attracts them.
Why? You may well ask. The researchers, however, think it's because your body provides subconscious clues about how fertile you are, while your face apparently offers information about your reproductive status in the long term. At least, that's what the study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, suggests.
The study itself sounds like it was a lot of fun. Almost 400 college students were shown photographs of people of the opposite sex, but could only choose to see the face or the body of each. When asking the volunteers to consider the person in the photograph as a long-term partner, 75 of the guys said they wanted to see her body.
Interestingly, there was no significant difference in interest in faces vs bodies among the women who took part in the experiments.
What do you think is more important when it comes to attraction - face or body? We'd love to know.