The results of a new study suggest men aren't attracted to women who are smarter than them. And if you're sitting there right now saying, "Nah, man, that's not true. I like smart women," then you're exactly the type of dude we're talking about.
The study, a joint effort by the University at Buffalo, California Lutheran University and the University of Texas at Austin, seems to show that while 86 percent of men say they have no problem dating a woman with higher intelligence, that's straight B.S. when it comes down to it.
In one experiment, the men took an intelligence test and then were told about a woman down the hall who had taken the same test and scored either higher or lower. The men were then asked how interested they were in meeting her. In this situation, the men wanted to meet and possibly date this hypothetical woman they'd never seen, regardless of whether she scored a higher intelligence than them.
Then came experiments where men came face-to-face with these supposedly smarter women. In one such experiment, men were introduced to a woman, then both of them took the test while seated side-by-side. The men were then told, in front of her, that she had scored either higher or lower than them.
Then the men were asked to place their chairs so they were seated facing the woman while taking a survey that asked how attractive she was. When they were told the woman was more intelligent, the men placed their chairs farther away and said they were much less interested in dating her.
In other words, men say they're totally down with dating a smarter woman, but when she's right there in their face, they're not into it. Of course, people saying one thing and then acting a different way pretty much sums up why dating is horrible for everyone, so yay.
Here's probably the most telling part of the entire study. When men took the test and were told, in front of the woman, that they'd scored lower, they also scored lower on surveys that asked how masculine they felt in several stereotypical ways. The men who thought the women were smarter fell much less masculine when they were sitting by the smart ladies.
Here's what that means, via Huffington Post:
As the researchers put it, their findings suggest that there are "conditions under which self-protective concerns may trump qualities of partners that seem desirable at a distance." Translation: Men who blow off intelligent women might just be protecting their fragile masculine egos.
Do you even know yourself, bro?
