Do Men Really Prefer Bad Girls?

Research on female preferences[ edit ] Nice guy construct[ edit ] In their qualitative analysis, Herold and Milhausen [7] found that women associate different qualities with the nice guy label: Some women offered flattering interpretations of the 'nice guy', characterizing him as committed, caring, and respectful of women. Some women, however, emphasized more negative aspects, considering the 'nice guy' to be boring, lacking confidence, and unattractive. Women were also asked for their preferences and what values they may look in each relationship, such as attractiveness, and sexual desires in short- and long-term relationships. Often these ideas and views of a certain nice guy can contribute to a woman's willingness to pursue a romantic relationship.

Thanks to a recent study, this is now scientifically verifiable. One way en route for investigate the issue is to acquaint with women with hypothetical men with altered personality types and see which ones they prefer. In one such analyse , participants had to help a fictional character named Susan choose a date from three male contestants, based on their answers to her questions. In one version, the man was nice — he was in affect with his feelings, caring and benevolent. The third contestant simply gave disinterested answers. So which contestant did participants think Susan should date and who did they prefer to date themselves?