Women are more shallow than men when it comes to judging people on looks, says research

You might have thought that you weren’t that shallow when it comes to pulling. That you go for personality, intelligence, humour. But apparently, if you’re a girl you don’t – or at least, that’s what a new survey of 2,000 British men and women found.

The research, which comes from skincare brand Remescar, reveals a surprising trend in the dating world; men are more attracted to the person that they meet (i.e. their personality and their confidence) while women are more attracted to the person’s physical attributes (i.e. their smile and their body type).

The tables have turned when it comes to dating and finding a potential new partner and now it’s British men who focus on the person and who they are, whereas women are more likely to seek out good looks.

Initially all respondents were asked ‘Do you consider yourself to be fussy when it comes to meeting someone new?’ to which 61 per cent of respondents confessed that ‘yes’ they were fussy. Of those who said they were fussy, the top reasons cited were ‘I don’t want to waste my time with someone who’s not for me’ (31 per cent) and ‘I know what I like and what I don’t like’ (22 per cent). The most common reason, however, for those who considered themselves not to be fussy was ‘I like to open-minded in case I find someone that’s not my usual type’ (56 per cent).

All male respondents were asked what they looked for in a potential new partner. When provided with a list of possible responses and told to select all that applied, the top five responses were: good personality, someone to have a laugh with, confidence, intelligence, how she gets on with friends and family, and a good family ethic.

When women were asked the same question however, their top five was a little different. While women also rated family ethics, confidence and personality, their top value was “a nice smile”, and third from top was “body type”.

According to the poll, just 31 per cent of male respondents admitted that they would ignore or avoid someone of the opposite sex based upon their looks, compared to a massive 70 per cent of female respondents admitted that they would ignore or avoid the opposite sex because of the way they looked.

Carien Veldhuis, Marketing Manager at Remescar, said: “It’s shocking to hear that so many women, and likewise so many men, will ignore someone of the opposite sex based upon the way they look; you never know, that could be your Mr or Mrs Right right there, and you’ve snubbed them because they don’t quite marry up to the image of your dream partner that you’ve built up in your head.

“Ultimately looks aren’t everything – at the end of the day you want to be able to have an intelligent conversation with your partner when it’s just the two of you.”