A forthcoming book from two evolutionary psychologists aims to understand why we humans date, mate, and succeed—based on our looks. Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters examines the impact that physical beauty has on people—both individually and for humanity in general. For instance, because attractive people are more likely than homely people to have reproductive success generation after generation, the genes of beautiful parents are more likely to survive through a daughter. (Paging Shiloh Jolie-Pitt!) According to the New York Post:
The book cites a study that found young Americans who were rated "very attractive" had a 56 percent chance of having a daughter, whereas the uglies had a 52 percent chance of having a son—meaning, [author Satoshi] Kanazawa says, that being hot increases the odds of having a daughter by 36 percent.
The book also examines why men prefer large breasts (they sag, making it easier for men to judge a woman's age, and therefore, fertility) and why handsome men might make lousy husbands (they have more women chasing after them). I don't agree that our animal instincts completely drive our actions—after all, I know men who go gaga for small breasts, and handsome dudes who are devoted to their wives—but I'm looking forward to reading some of the theories. The book is out September 4, and if you read it, you'll have to let me know what you think!
Betsey Johnson
Dress for Less
Theory
I added this to my favorites...this seems like an interesting book...!
1this seems interesting...but also weird..
2I'm working on my psychology degree (the beginning- sophomore in college!) and this book looks awesome. I'm going to order it at the library tomorrow. I have always liked this sort of stuff.
3Very interesting...evolutionary biology is awesome.
4Posh and Becks??! Haven't they tried to have girl?
5Sounds interesting but a little far out there though for me.
6Thanks,,,no wonder have to hansome SON"s !!!
7Horse doo doo i think.
Sounds vvverrrrry interesting! Can't wait to have my hands on that book....
8This book looks so much like pseudo-science - way too many holes in their observations. And a lot of it is probably only relevant in western culture. I'll probably read it just to see what they're saying.
9"The book also examines why men prefer large breasts (they sag, making it easier for men to judge a woman's age, and therefore, fertility)"
LMAO! Okay maybe that was the case 200 years ago... but men's obsession with big boobs in the present time, has nothing to do with wanting to have babies. haha!
10Sounds like a load of crap.
11Yeah... not to be Captain Skeptic... but I don't really see how if Jane and Joe are more attractive than Sam and Sarah, Joe's little X sperm is more likely to find Jane's egg than Sam's X sperm is to find Sarah's egg. I would REALLY need to see how many people they interviewed, which or both members of the couple were found to be attractive and why, and other basic methodology factoids here.
12It sounds interesting, but doesn't sound really conclusive. I think this is a library pick for me... not paying for this.
Oh yeah, and I know some unattractive people that have only had daughters. Just to throw that out there.
13Good point Natalya!!!
14It does sound innerestin, but my skeptical bells r ringing...
15it sounds like an extension of the survival of the fittest theory. that those who are pleasing to look at must be the healthiest. I think there may be some merit to that, but i wouldn't say it across the board. i mean, they're writing from the perspective that humans are just functioning to survive as a species. but we're not. we do better than just survive. and we alter our own appearances, get plastic surgery, take birth control, and can enhance our own fertility. not to mention you can have a baby through artificial insemination. you can be completely unattractive and get yourself pregnant by a sperm donor with good genes, and have a good looking child.
16i love evolutionary psychology, so this looks like a good read. hopefully they back it with tons of research so that it's more like a research paper than pop reading. you'd be surprised at how much of our evolutionary tendencies actually drive most of what we do and how we think. AND it can explain the differences between tastes of "western" and "non-western" civilizations. evolutionary psychology is used to explain everything from the popular topic of mate selection, to why gangs exist, to child abuse, to aversions to incest. it's very interesting! i hope this book actually supports it in a good way.
17That explains why my mom had four girls
18i agree with krissugar...what about those who have had plastic surgery? what about artificial insemination and surrogation? i'm a little iffy on any psychology book anyway so i think i'll pass.
19I am so getting this from the library just to see how on earth these hypotheses could be supported.
20Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.