If you just started dating someone you think is way out of your league, here’s some news that might burst your bubble. A new study suggests most ever-so-dreamy, attractive people aren’t very good at holding down a relationship.
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The study, led by researcher Christine Ma-Kellams, and published in the journal Personal Relationships, was comprised of four smaller studies designed to answer an age-old question: Are beautiful people better or worse at long-term relationships? The first two studies in the series suggested there is a strong link between how attractive you are and how long your relationships last. Overall, Ma-Kellams and her colleagues found that attractive individuals tended to have short-lived romances and more divorce.
The third study built on that link, suggesting pretty people in relationships are always on the lookout for other pretty people, as if they’re already planning their next move. The study results showed that attractive individuals in a committed relationship were more likely to show interest in other attractive people than equally attractive people who were single. Previous research has suggested that people in committed relationships lose their “wandering eye” over time, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for the good lookin’ folks among us.
Lastly, the fourth study showed that participants who were made to feel more alluring rated beautiful people as more attractive than those who were made to feel ugly. And the effect was even more profound in those who admitted they were unhappy with their current relationship.
Ma-Kellams and her team believe beautiful people might be more prone to breakups and divorce because they’re less willing to do all the work that goes into maintaining a healthy relationship. Being attractive seemingly gives you more options in the dating pool where the grass seems greener, so you’re less inclined to water what you have.
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