Being Selfless Is Sexy: Study

Researchers from the University of Nottingham and Liverpool John Moores University have found that selfless behavior can make one more attractive to potential sexual partners for long term relationship.

"This study adds to a growing body of research which tries to explain why nice guys (and girls) might not always finish last!" said Dr. David Moore, Senior Lecturer in Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University.

The research included 32 female and 35 male participants who were asked to rate the attractiveness of the opposite sex on the basis of a list of qualities out of which some were selfless like: 'he does the shopping for his elderly neighbour', and those that were considered neutral such as preferences for food. 

The results illustrated that both the genders rated potential partners for a long-term relationship as more attractive when they were told that the partner had invested in helpful and altruistic acts like doing honorary or charitable work in their community or take care of the sick.

"At first glance, it's difficult to see how natural selection could favor behaviors that involve investing significant time and resources to help others at a cost to oneself," Dr. Freya Harrison, a Research Fellow in The University of Nottingham's Life Sciences Centre for Biomolecular Sciences and the senior author of the study said in a press release.

"We now know that 'altruistic' helping can actually increase evolutionary fitness in various ways - people might preferentially help their relatives, with whom they share genes, or they might target their helping toward others who are likely to reciprocate in the future," she added.

This effect grew weaker and showed lesser impact on male and female attractiveness when the same people were rated as potential partners for a short term relationship.

"We're not sure whether being helpful to others signals that you're more likely to be a good parent who helps your partner with the work involved in raising children, or whether it might be a signal that you carry 'good genes' that will produce healthy children - having the energy and ability to help others might be a show of vigour, rather like a peacock's tail. It would be really interesting for future work to try to tease these two possibilities apart," said Dr. Harrison.

The researchers have also started researching whether altruistic behaviour capable of making someone extra attractive to the opposite sex  would raise the chances of having children and passing on their genes.