Women are attracted to men who most closely resemble their fathers say researchers published in the journal ‘Evolution and Human Behaviour’.
The study could have widespread social implications and favours the influence of ‘cognitive theories’ over ‘behavioural’ ones in the learning process. Falling in love is a complex business at the best of times but the study indicates that females further complicate the process by involving their family history.
Formerly, women had been shown to prefer men for their emotional intelligence and such qualities as caring, trustworthiness and commitment. What the psychologists have now found, however, is that women are in fact basing such choices upon ‘prior learning’.
While men are known to place a high premium on visual stimuli when choosing a partner, women by contrast, show increased activity in an area of the brain called the ‘Caudate Nucleus’. In Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans this area has been shown to be strongly associated with learning and memory.
The study may encourage certain unscrupulous individuals to try and fool ‘Mother Nature’ by undertaking cosmetic surgery. Changing our facial characteristics allows us to project powerful psychological cues which appeal to potential mates. Of course having studied ethics intensely none of our colleagues would dare resort to such an underhanded approach or would they?
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