Posted: October 28, 2015 Contributor: PRJKT RUBY
STUDY FINDS MEN ARE INTIMIDATED BY SMART WOMEN
We all have that one friend who seems to have everything..except for a man in her life. She has a successful career, her finances are in order and she is incredibly smart and witty. So, you’ve often asked yourself, how can she be single? Well, according to new research, it could be her intelligence that’s intimidating potential male suitors.
While the idea of an intelligent women is typically favored by most men you ask, according to the new study published in the November edition of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, once in the presence of a smart woman, many men may become intimidated. This fact was highlighted in the following test:
In the first scenario, “a woman either outperformed or under-performed them in a math or English course, and then instructed the men to imagine this woman as a romantic partner.” In this case, men more commonly gave the women who outperformed them a higher ranking.
The second scenario is where things change.
These men were also given the intelligence test but were told they were about to meet women who had preformed better than them. In this case, men rated these women less attractive and distanced themselves more frequently. Men admitted that they felt threatened when actually dealing with a real life situation where they were face to face with these women.
So why is the idea of a smart woman attractive but a real life meeting not? Researchers believe it comes down to masculinity. “Feelings of diminished masculinity accounted for men’s decreased attraction toward women who outperformed them in the live interaction context,” the researchers wrote.
So what does this mean for smart women everywhere? Have no worry, researchers admit more must still be done to conclude this fact and let’s face it, being intelligent has many perks. Be proud of your intelligence ladies!