Fertile Women Prefer Single Men

In a study looking at the ever-interesting (and ever-mysterious) question of why women are attracted to certain men, researchers found that sexual interest shifts with a partnered woman’s menstrual cycle. Research states that when a woman (in a relationship) is fertile, they are most likely to be attracted to single men; thus, when infertile their attraction shifts to coupled men.

Studies shows that coupled women who are thinking of having an affair subconsciously select a man who is more likely to be a willing partner when they are fertile. In short, "Single Men". Courting a coupled man may be of waste as he is less likely to participate in an affair, - and hazardous, as there is a greater chance of getting caught. “Women who felt more attracted to a single man than a coupled one would have been more likely than others to succeed and transmit this preference to their daughters.

So why do women (in a relationship) prefer coupled men during their non-fertile stage? It's because women are instinctively assessing these men as potential replacement partners. “A coupled man obviously has the skills to maintain a long-term relationship, whereas a single man is an unknown. Indeed, women tend to be suspicious of men who are still on the mating market. On the other hand, single women showed no such variation in their preferences; they habitually showed no regard for whether a man was single or taken when expressing sexual preference, at any point in their cycle.

Every Man

Males, by nature, differ in many ways. Those of high genetic quality are less likely to invest time in paternal care than those of lower genetic quality. Thus, females view males with good genes as so desirable to the quality of their offspring, while those of lower-quality make up for their poorer genes by being supportive and aiding in child rearing.

Given these realities, one strategy for a female is to develop a long-term relationship with a lower-quality male while secretly breeding with single high-quality males. The only problem then is getting caught.

The Survey

A survey was conducted out of 200 women, half were single& the other half in relationships, to rate the attractiveness of men in photographs described as single, married, in love, or with a girlfriend. When the same man was labelled as single rather than being in any kind of attachment, fertile women in relationships scored single men 13% higher than attached men; infertile women scored them 8% lower. The effect of fertile women’s preference for single men was most noticeable when those men had particularly ‘manly’ features, such as strong jaws.

The findings add to other studies looking at physiological changes and sexual behaviour associated with reproductive hormone cycles in women. Some work has shown that women are more amorous, for example, when at the fertile stage of their menstrual cycle — similar to the way that animals are ‘in heat’ near the fertile stage of their oestrus cycle.

“These findings provide additional evidence that oestrus in women is alive and well." thus providing an alarming implication that adulterous women, instead of trying to avoid getting pregnant, will subconsciously tend to do the opposite. However, actual romantic behaviour is not the same as instinctive sexual preferences. But both need to be intensively studied to better understand all of this.

Women beware!!!: Instinctive preferences might up the odds of getting pregnant when cheating on a partner.