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Women Get Lots of Info From Male Faces

dtjohnson writes "Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have found that women have a remarkable ability to assess a man's testosterone levels and his interest in fathering children by looking at his facial features. Sixty-nine percent of the women were able to correctly judge a man's interest in having children merely by looking at cues on photograph's of his facial features. Saliva samples were also taken from each man in the study and tested for testosterone with a $2,000-a-pop test. The women in the study were able to correctly identify the men with the highest testosterone levels just by looking at their photographs. Of course, the study did not look at what men were able to tell about women by looking at photographs of their female body parts."

205 comments

  1. sensationalisation sucks by malsdavis · · Score: 5, Informative

    How about using a proper source for this study?

    The summary (and the linked articles) are so sensationalised it is ridiculous.

    The BBC have a slightly better written article:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4751501.stm

    1. Re:sensationalisation sucks by prichardson · · Score: 1

      "How about using a proper source for this study?"

      The problem with a "proper source" is that scientific journals are not available online and cost a shitload to subscribe to. Also, I don't want to wade through a scientific article; I want the meat of it. Like many people, I can recognize the sensationalism.

      --
      Help I'm a rock.
    2. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Teach · · Score: 4, Funny

      I am God ...try prove otherwise.

      God doesn't leave out grammatically-significant prepositions.

      QED

      :)

      --
      Graham "Teach" Mitchell, computer science teacher, Leander HS
    3. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God doesn't leave out grammatically-significant prepositions.

      You're right, I don't. Not purpose anyway.

    4. Re:sensationalisation sucks by malsdavis · · Score: 0, Troll

      I am an all-powerful and omnipotent being, and I therefor obviously know exactly where the prepostion should be. But, purely as a test, do you mind telling me where you would put it?

    5. Re:sensationalisation sucks by ncc74656 · · Score: 0, Offtopic
      I am an all-powerful and omnipotent being, and I therefor [sic] obviously know exactly where the prepostion should be.

      In addition to proper grammar, I'd think that God would pay attention to spelling as well.

      Besides, doesn't He have better things to do than kill time on /.? :-)

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
    6. Re:sensationalisation sucks by malsdavis · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Indeed, the trade-off is often debatable.

      But in this instance I am referring to the preferable use of a news source which actually cares about the facts of the study over a news source which is simply using the research as a launching point for the journalist to present stereotyped opinions on male and female attraction.

    7. Re:sensationalisation sucks by AhtirTano · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Besides, doesn't He have better things to do than kill time on /.? :-)

      Given that He's omnipotent, I suspect He can past on /., digg, and Kuro5hin, all at the same time--and still have time to attach meaning to the fall of every sparrow.

      The real question is: How often does He get modded as a troll for claiming He created the world in seven days?

    8. Re:sensationalisation sucks by drix · · Score: 4, Informative
      Well "Teach," if you want to be a pedant, the missing "to" in that sentence isn't a preposition. It's one half of the full infinitive "to prove," making it a particle.

      :)

      --

      I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
    9. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 4, Funny
      In addition to proper grammar, I'd think that God would pay attention to spelling as well.

      God's speling is korrekt. It's you're speling taht's wrong.

    10. Re:sensationalisation sucks by nocomment · · Score: 1

      Ya it sounds made-up. Right down to the "69%" part. --hehe they said 69.

      --
      /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
      /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
    11. Re:sensationalisation sucks by mattkinabrewmindspri · · Score: 1

      You're right; when you're covering an important study from the University of California Santa Barbara, you really should cite a better source than ucsbdailynexus.com.

    12. Re:sensationalisation sucks by spieters · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Dude, my compliments on your sig. Seriously I'm jealous that I didn't think of it. Just got done reading "Atheist Manifest and the unreasonableness of religion" (my translation of the title). It's written in Dutch (ISBN: 9035126548) and I don't know if there's an english version. If there is one I'd highly recommend it.

      --
      Instant Karma's gonna get you Gonna look you right in the face -- John Lennon
    13. Re:sensationalisation sucks by optikSmoke · · Score: 3, Funny

      If God would kindly reread the definitions of both therefor and therefore, God would find that while both are valid words, their meanings are somewhat different. God should note that, in the context He used it, "therefor" was incorrect.

      Perhaps God should address the situation of His Divine Foot, finding it firmly in-Mouth.

    14. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Joen_w · · Score: 5, Informative

      >How about using a proper source for this study?
      How about a link to the study itself? http://primate.uchicago.edu/2006PROC.pdf

    15. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bwaaark, AHA wrote the introduction, I'll skip that one.

    16. Re:sensationalisation sucks by BecomingLumberg · · Score: 1
      Particles?

      I thought this was a fluff piece, and not about real science.

      --
      If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.-TJ
    17. Re:sensationalisation sucks by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Funny
      It's one half of the full infinitive "to prove," making it a particle.

      But it sometimes behaves as if it were a wave.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    18. Re:sensationalisation sucks by moro_666 · · Score: 1

      At first when i saw the title "Women ..." I thought i mispelled the url of slashdot, but when i saw that this is in the science section everything became clear.

        It takes a slashdotter to perform such researches anyway, everyone else can just get laid.

      --

      I'd tell you the chances of this story being a dupe, but you wouldn't like it.
    19. Re:sensationalisation sucks by rbochan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The summary is indeed ridiculous.

      "Of course, the study did not look at what men were able to tell about women by looking at photographs of their female body parts."

      Of course they didn't, nay, COULDN'T look into that aspect. It would have to take into account the vast amounts of physical alterations that women have done to them these days, be it botox, a ton of makeup, boob-jobs, tramp stamps, nose jobs, etc. In that regard, it would be pretty difficult, if not impossible, to tell anything about one's "genes" from a photograph. While vastly more prevelent in females, it's working its weay into males as well.
      When I was a teenager, an attractive friend of mine had herself a nose-job at age 16... it was a major event back then, but that seems like nothing these days.
      A buddy of mine, age 36, just had liposuction to remove his "spare-tire", it was outpatient surgury. Imagine that... a human body being invaded by foreign objects and literally pounds of material being removed... and it's considered so comon that it's outpatient surgery.

      --
      ...Rob
      The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
    20. Re:sensationalisation sucks by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sixty-nine percent of the women were able to correctly judge a man's interest in having children merely by looking at cues on photograph's of his facial features.

      Wow, that's like... 7 in 10 instead of 5 in 10 you might expect to get from chance alone. Remarkable

    21. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every time. It was a troll. "Seven days... and they BELIEVED it! Suckers!"

    22. Re:sensationalisation sucks by gforce811 · · Score: 0

      The amount of ego this site employs is making me sick to my stomach.

    23. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, that's like... 7 in 10 instead of 5 in 10 you might expect to get from chance alone. Remarkable

      I'm guessing you don't understand much regarding statistical significance. 70% as opposed to guess level is pretty huge as far as these things go. Do yourself a favor and take some research stats courses at your local CC, then go spouting off on internet forums.

    24. Re:sensationalisation sucks by Salty+Moran · · Score: 1

      Just like the world's smartest man in Dilbert. Who would you be to look down on the world's smartest man for choosing to be a sanitation worker of some sort? Wouldn't it be more logical to assume he knows something you don't about the job rather than that he's made a poor choice?

    25. Re:sensationalisation sucks by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 1

      Eh? I'm sorry, I thought someone wrote something significant, but then I realized that it was just another AC posting.

      Here's some information about statistics: 30% of 10,000 is 3000. That means if the sample was 10,000 people, a whopping 3,000 of them failed to get it right. If the sample was 5 women, that means roughly 3 of them got it right. And two didn't.

      My point? Well, if you're not seeing it, perhaps you should do yourself a favor and take some research methodology courses at your local CC, then go spouting off on internet forums.

    26. Re:sensationalisation sucks by lee1026 · · Score: 0

      This is a study conducted by a group of respected sciencists. The fact that they are talking at all means that the ressults have to be statistically important.

  2. Ok then by fireman+sam · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So what we have here is researchers have discovered what physical attributes of men women find attractive (whether they want short term or long term relationships). Just as it is known what physical attributes of women men find attractive.

    So women don't just want a "nice on the inside" type of man.

    --
    it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
    1. Re:Ok then by spun · · Score: 1

      So women don't just want a "nice on the inside" type of man.

      Nothing in the article says this. Where are you getting this from? The study does not judge the relative importance of different drives in a woman. Perhaps, even though she is attracted to a certain type of man on a physical level, she will pick a man who has lots of money. Or treats her nice. Or badly, who knows, women are weird that way.

      My point being that you can't draw that conclusion from the evidence given.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  3. Let me fix that for you by zappepcs · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Researchers [CC] at U Name It have found that women have a remarkable ability to assess a man's finance levels and his interest in making women feel good by looking at how much money he spends. Sixty-nine percent of the women were able to correctly judge a man's ability to buy them diamonds merely by looking at cues in his wallet. Spending samples were also taken from each man in the study and tested for wanton spending on women with a $2,000-a-pop test. The women in the study were able to correctly identify the men with the highest spending levels just by looking at their wallets. Of course, the study did not look at what men were able to tell about women by looking at photographs of their female body parts, though further study is being considered at several men's clubs around the country."

    1. Re:Let me fix that for you by rodentia · · Score: 1


      Of course, the study did not look at what men were able to tell about women by looking at photographs of their female body parts. . .

      Nor did it address those things men and women are able to tell about each other without so much as a glance.

      Which is more important, your testosterone level or the fact that you're an unfeeling lunk, a good-for-nothing and a layabout; her complaisance or the fact that she's an inconstant and judgemental control freak?

      --
      illegitimii non ingravare
  4. signs of high testosterone level by C.A.+Nony+Mouse · · Score: 2, Funny

    Acne, tounge hanging out, perspiration drops on forehead...

    --
    J
    1. Re:signs of high testosterone level by coolgeek · · Score: 1

      ...trying to pick a fight with every man in the bar.

      --

      cat /dev/null >sig
    2. Re:signs of high testosterone level by Elad+Alon · · Score: 1

      ... trying to pick a fight with every man in the techbar.org.

      --
      News for merdes. Shit that matters.
      Ask me about my sig.
    3. Re:signs of high testosterone level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...trying to pick a fight with every man in the bar.

      Actually, that would be a sign of very low testosterone, possibly due to the abuse of anabolic steroids.

    4. Re:signs of high testosterone level by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      Ummm... steroids are basically synthetic testosterone, dude. Dunno where you get your info from.

  5. beards by mikesd81 · · Score: 4, Funny

    And men with beards? What do they want?

    --
    That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.
    1. Re:beards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A better razor? ;-)

    2. Re:beards by popeyethesailor · · Score: 2, Funny

      little boys? :P

    3. Re:beards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Presumably to give you a roundhouse kick.

    4. Re:beards by fireman+sam · · Score: 1

      I have a beard you insensitive clod.

      PS. I always thought they wanted the source code to be free.

      --
      it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
    5. Re:beards by linzeal · · Score: 1

      To lose enough weight so they do not have to have a beard to cover their face fat?

    6. Re:beards by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Besides looking older, wiser, mature and responsible? Raising a family.

    7. Re:beards by Zardus · · Score: 3, Funny

      They want all software to be free, of course!

      Oh, and money for autographs :-)

      --
      You can mod your friends, you can mod your nose, but you can't mod your friend's nose.
    8. Re:beards by smokeala · · Score: 1

      Having a beard myself that's the first thing I thought.
      Seems we exist in some kind of limbo. :p

    9. Re:beards by yootje · · Score: 1

      Midgets.

    10. Re:beards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your photo's what?

    11. Re:beards by miller701 · · Score: 1

      MEn with beards have everything they want!

    12. Re:beards by pimpimpim · · Score: 1

      Bearded man have already been a subject of intensive scientific study, so I guess they didn't think it interesting to test more on this topic.

      --
      molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
    13. Re:beards by Escogido · · Score: 1

      um.. to wear a beard?

    14. Re:beards by Bigboote66 · · Score: 1

      Simple. Men with beards want the world to believe they're heterosexual.

      -BbT

  6. Face? You sure? by helioquake · · Score: 1

    Just looking at a face? You sure women didn't look down also?

    1. re: Face? You sure? by vain+gloria · · Score: 1

      Just looking at a face? You sure women didn't look down also?

      Only as far as the wallet in a guys' pocket. Apparently women get a lot from that too.

    2. Re:Face? You sure? by tverbeek · · Score: 1
      Just looking at a face? You sure women didn't look down also?

      She might, but in general men are more interested in their dick size than the women who meet them are.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    3. Re:Face? You sure? by computational+super · · Score: 1

      ...you hope.

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    4. Re:Face? You sure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In high school I knew a guy who constantly boasted about how big his dick was. His girlfriend was afraid to have sex with him because she thought it would hurt. They eventually did it after some of her friends convinced her that he was lying and that he actually had a normal-sized dick.

  7. Small sample size? by presidentbeef · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A group of 29 undergraduate students hardly seems enough to be able to generalize the results to the entire female gender.

    --
    Everything I need to know about copyrights I learned from Slashdot.
    1. Re:Small sample size? by Neil+Blender · · Score: 4, Funny

      You ever hear of a one sample t-test? You can prove whether or not something is significant with only one sample! You don't even need something to compare it to! Oh, wait - no you can't. That's not what a one sample t-test is at all. Either way, you can do some amazing shit with statistics. Especially if you don't understand what you are doing.

    2. Re:Small sample size? by mano_k · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, it's sad that this seems to be quite often the problem with psychological and sociological research. The researchers present groundbreaking results about the human nature and when you look at their methods you find the results are based one nothing more than random results from a much to small sample...

      The good old Cargo Cult Science

    3. Re:Small sample size? by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's not the size that counts! It's how you use it!

      --
      The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
    4. Re:Small sample size? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The correct word is "sex", not "gender".

    5. Re:Small sample size? by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 1

      Well ... even though my face is a sample of one, I'm certain that 100% of all women on this planet find it repulsive (or at least 100% of women in the tri-state area)

    6. Re:Small sample size? by Skater · · Score: 1

      ...[Y]ou can do some amazing shit with statistics. Especially if you don't understand what you are doing.

      I'm a statistician, and that's the best comment I've heard about statistics in a long time. Thanks!

    7. Re:Small sample size? by slashdotnickname · · Score: 1

      A group of 29 undergraduate students hardly seems enough to be able to generalize the results to the entire female gender.

      Having lived in a household with 5 women, I can honestly say that 29 is about 24 too many unecessary samples.

    8. Re:Small sample size? by Surt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think it's more of a conflict between the press presentation and an understanding of detailed statistics. When you get the press presentation, it says that women can tell a man's level of testosterone. When you read the statistics, you find that with a >95% confidence level, the researchers have concluded that the participant's ratings matched testosterone level better than random chance would allow, implying that at least some of the women were getting the answers right enough that they must have been recognizing something. The numbers of participants required to make these conclusions are well understood. 20 participants is roughly the lower bound for studies of this type, and I'm sure in the actual research paper that various weaknesses of the sample were discussed (age, race distribution and such) as they nearly always are. But the press presentation will contain none of that, because the fraction of their readers who would understand the details is very small.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    9. Re:Small sample size? by dascandy · · Score: 0

      One sample tests are based on identifying what something is in a huge population, given the guarantee that they all look alike and that similar situations in the past have proven them to then be similar. Consider having a bag of grass-ish stuff, what are the odds that if I check one sample and it's marijuana that the rest is as well?

    10. Re:Small sample size? by mdfst13 · · Score: 1

      "[T]he press presentation will contain none of that, because the fraction of their readers who would understand the details is very small." ...and won't include any of the reporters or editors who will be excerpting it.

  8. beards-Stereotypes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "And men with beards? What do they want?"

    To overthrow the US.

  9. And in the next study by Travoltus · · Score: 1

    we'll confirm what Maureen Dowd has always known: women can read men's minds!

    --
    --- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
  10. Big Nuts by foundme · · Score: 1

    Alarmingly women's attractiveness judgments specifically track both men's affinity for children and men's hormone concentrations, like him?

    --
    Please stop entering code 2,2,7,6,6,4
  11. And by Konster · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Men can't tell what a woman wants by looking at a picture...or anything else, since women don't know what they want!

    1. Re:And by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks. Your ability to play up the stereotype of women is just hilarious.

    2. Re:And by Nutria · · Score: 1

      since women don't know what they want!

      That's not true. They know they want to go shopping!

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    3. Re:And by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Always seemed to me that women don't know what they feel untill they talk about it, men don't know what they feel untill they shut-up and think about it.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  12. Hidden messages... by pyrrhonist · · Score: 4, Funny
    Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have found that women have a remarkable ability to assess a man's testosterone levels and his interest in fathering children by looking at his facial features. Sixty-nine percent...

    Sorry, I just couldn't concentrate.

    --
    Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
    1. Re:Hidden messages... by chiskop · · Score: 1

      Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have found that women have a remarkable ability to assess a man's testosterone levels and his interest in fathering children by looking at his facial features. Sixty-nine percent...

      Sorry, what were you saying?

    2. Re:Hidden messages... by not-enough-info · · Score: 1

      At least you did better than me. I read the article title as "Women Get Lots of Info From Male Feces".

      --
      ---k--
      </stupid>
    3. Re:Hidden messages... by rbarreira · · Score: 1

      Great, I thought I was the only one :)

      --

      The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
  13. Slashdot using daily nexus as source? by Jmechy · · Score: 1

    You might want to link to a more reliable news source... Honestly, do you trust a paper whose main attraction is "The Wednesday Hump", a weekly sex column? http://www.dailynexus.com/opinion/2006/11667.html

    1. Re:Slashdot using daily nexus as source? by node+3 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What is wrong with having a weekly sex column and how does having one make a paper untrustworthy?

    2. Re:Slashdot using daily nexus as source? by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 4, Funny

      You're getting your news from a site that currently has a Pirate vs Ninja poll on the front page.

      --
      The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
    3. Re:Slashdot using daily nexus as source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Life without sex: it chose you. Don't be hostile. People can smell desperation.

    4. Re:Slashdot using daily nexus as source? by Doctor+Faustus · · Score: 1

      Good point. As The State so rightly pointed out about ten years ago, it should be pirates vs. clowns.

  14. Figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It works like that in the animal world too. Female dogs, for example, get lots of information from male dog's feces.

  15. *whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by interactive_civilian · · Score: 3, Funny
    Did anyone else misread the headline? I could have sworn it said:
    Women Get Lots of Info From Male Feces

    Maybe I'm spending too much time on Fark...

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
    1. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

      No, at first I thought that it said something about feces as well. Perhaps its the font.

      If elephants can do it, why can't we?

    2. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by Gleng · · Score: 1

      I had exactly the same reaction. I thought "Oh GOD! Is there something else that I didn't know and couldn't possibly understand about women! They're looking at my feces now!"

      So women get info about men from feces now, do they?

      "Hey Agnes! It looks like your Frank's been eating sweetcorn again!"

      --
      "Proudly Posting Without Reading The Article"
    3. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not the only one.

      (Incidentally, I don't spend any time on Fark.)

      Thanks for letting me know *I* wasn't the only one.  :-)

      Perhaps the reasons we read it that way are that (1) our eyes really sikm oevr the letrets in the mddiels of wrods and(2) when skimmed over, the "a" is visually comparable to "e" because your eye isn't really focusing on it (or in its specific direction). 

    4. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by DeathFromSomewhere · · Score: 1

      You're not the only one. I was seriously disturbed for a moment there. :S

      --
      -1 overrated isn't the same thing as "I disagree".
    5. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by Bigboote66 · · Score: 1

      Did anyone else misread the headline? I could have sworn it said:
      Women Get Lots of Info From Male Feces


      That's the only reason I clicked on the link.

      -BbT

    6. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by Anonymous+Matt · · Score: 1

      I thought it said feces, too, which I expected to be a fascinating and strange article. Women look at feces? Gotta read that! When I realized it said faces I skipped the article and started looking for a post that thought it said feces. I found it. Now I'm going to go check out the article.

    7. Re:*whew* I totally misread that headline. ^^;;; by rbarreira · · Score: 1

      Or maybe we're just fucking pigs, or too used to bullshit/humor articles.

      --

      The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
  16. I can usually tell a lot by jessecurry · · Score: 1

    I can usually tell a lot about a woman's desire to have children if I see certain body parts.

    --
    Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
    1. Re:I can usually tell a lot by Dis*abstraction · · Score: 1

      Yes--if she's showing them to you, she must be quite desperate indeed.

    2. Re:I can usually tell a lot by jessecurry · · Score: 1

      desperate and obviously not too bright :D

      --
      Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
  17. Translation by ebrandsberg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Women are able to judge someone with aggressive genes that can father a strong child, then pick a sucker to stand with her to raise them.

    1. Re:Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      and why they whine why there are no "nice guys" while they are screwing jerks.

    2. Re:Translation by CortoMaltese · · Score: 1
      I personally think it goes more like this: Women first pick a masculine man with high testosterone levels, and then try and convert that same guy into the family man.

      So the women in the study were really looking at the pictures thinking "before" and "after".

      What this means for us nerds: Disguise yourself! Get a haircut. Don't shave so often, instead use more aftershave. Buy a leather jacket and boots, and wear them off a bit. Drink. Smoke. Go out. Once the woman finds you, she'll want to turn you back into the nerd that's always home with her. Of course, YMMV.

    3. Re:Translation by Dis*abstraction · · Score: 5, Informative

      You jest, but some researchers think that's a very accurate description: "WHAT'S a girl to do when faced with the choice between a powerful action man who has great DNA but is likely to love her and leave her, and a carpet-and-slippers kind of bloke who will hang around and bring up the kids but may not be Mr Right in the genes department? Well, ideally, she should fool the latter into bringing up the former's children. And a piece of evidence that this is exactly what happens emerged this week from a research group led by Jan Havlicek of Charles University, in Prague."

    4. Re:Translation by pla · · Score: 1

      And a piece of evidence that this is exactly what happens emerged this week

      Which justifies why EVERY sane man should quietly (ie, if you want your penis still attached the next morning, don't tell the wifey) get a paternity test of any kid "his" mate pops out.

      But then, the same traits a female looks for in the daddy-wimp also most likely include a low risk that the sucker will get such a test done.

      Not that the courts really care about the actual biological father when it comes to child support or alimony, but, always nice to have the option of a double-murder/suicide rather than give that cuckolding whore another penny.

      But then, the same traits a female looks for in the daddy-wimp also most likely include a low risk that the sucker will chain the doors and shutters closed with everyone inside, douse the house in petrol, and have a cigar (the smelly ones his wife always hated, of course).



      And no, I haven't married or had kids, nor do I want to.

    5. Re:Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow... You sound like me. You are correct.

      The courts don't care. If you are married to a woman that has a child, it is yours to pay for regardless if actually yours or not.

    6. Re:Translation by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      Which justifies why EVERY sane man should quietly (ie, if you want your penis still attached the next morning, don't tell the wifey) get a paternity test of any kid "his" mate pops out.

      I realize that it might put Maury Povich out of business, but I believe that every birth should be accompanies by a legally mandated paternity test. From right after the child's birth, we'd know with 99.99% certainty if the man who thinks he's the father really is.

      Many women routinely lie about paternity. They choose the man who has the highest income to claim is the father because they know that most of the time the stupid men will believe them and not get a paternity test and even if he does she won't be punished for lying.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    7. Re:Translation by budgenator · · Score: 2, Interesting

      There was a study pointed to by /. conducted in England that showed that a woman's first and last child was significantly less likely to be her husband's and that the lower her socio-economic class was the more likely as well, rate as high as 30% were found. The biological fathers were more likely to be of higher class than the husband.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    8. Re:Translation by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Why not, if it's ok for them to know everybody I've every talked to on the telephone, they should want to know who my daddy is too!

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  18. Go to a college and get their access codes by linzeal · · Score: 1

    That is why you keep access codes from university to use wherever you go. I have ones that work for the last 3 insititutions I went to.

    1. Re:Go to a college and get their access codes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The university I'm at subscribes by IP, so you have to be on campus or log in remotely to access the journals.

    2. Re:Go to a college and get their access codes by ZaMoose · · Score: 1

      Yeah, 'cause throwing down the cash for college tuition is much cheaper than subscribing to the New England Journal of Medicine.

      Sheeeeeesh.

      --
      I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
    3. Re:Go to a college and get their access codes by linzeal · · Score: 1

      I don't think you understand, even the most rural of community colleges have access to thousands of journals. I'm pretty sure the 100 bucks it costs to register for one class offsets the cost of 1000's of journals.

  19. Gee I thought it was my hat by linzeal · · Score: 1

    That says, "Preganator".

  20. Now it figures... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Funny

    No wonder women are slapping me in the face all the time.

  21. Right. Then why do so many women screw up? by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Insightful
    The study starts wonky. Men are show pictures of adults and babies and asked wich they prefer. Mmmm, okay. In what context? Could be they had a bunch of extreme pedo's on their hand.

    Rather then testing wich photograph someone likes better perhaps a better test to see if a male is truly intrested in being a father is to see if he is one? Baby pictures are cute. Crying shitting sex-ruining babies are not.

    As for what women find more attractive. Well wasn't there another study not so long ago that claimed that it depended on the point in their cycle? So what point in their cycle where these women on?

    Personally I think the result of 60% is to close to 50% wich you could easily reach by flipping a coin. Throw in a few extreme photos of men and you got a winner. Michael Jackson vs Bob Sapp (girly man vs the guy that is gonna be your bunk mate in federal jail).

    Not so hard to judge the hormone levels there eh?

    Did the study look at how these women that guessed right actually did in there personal lives? Any single mothers or battered women? Oh they were students. Any of them been date raped?

    Frankly this study seems totally worthless. Offcourse you can tell hormones from facial features. Duh, everyone knows that it is hormones that decide your body build. Just swallow the opposites sex hormones for a while to find out.

    And testing men for the desire to be a father by showing them cute baby pictures is just stupid. Ask them "It has been 8 months since you last had sex, 2 months since you last had a full nights sleep, the baby is crying and your wive asks you to get out while she has been at home all day doing shit all and you been working hard to pay for that bloody nurse that costs a fortune and need to go to work again in 2 hours. Do you love your baby now (that probably ain't yours anyway because women like guys with manly faces not saps like you) sucker?".

    That would be a proper test. If women were capable of doing such a test we wouldn't have so many single mothers living of benefits. Social security is a good thing and I am willing to pay for it but only if I am allowed to think people who need it are a bunch of fuckwads.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Right. Then why do so many women screw up? by dhakbar · · Score: 1

      "If women were capable of doing such a test we wouldn't have so many single mothers living of benefits. Social security is a good thing and I am willing to pay for it but only if I am allowed to think people who need it are a bunch of fuckwads."

      Hear ye!

    2. Re:Right. Then why do so many women screw up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone's bitter about paying child support, eh?

    3. Re:Right. Then why do so many women screw up? by lawpoop · · Score: 1

      Why do women screw up?

      Let's assume that the theory is correct. Just because women can recognize from a face that some guy is a brawler and another guy is a nebbish, it doesn't mean that things play out perfectly afterwards. Maybe the nebbish doesn't want to raise the kid that came along 6 months after he met the girl.

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    4. Re:Right. Then why do so many women screw up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Frankly this study seems totally worthless. Offcourse you can tell hormones from facial features. Duh, everyone knows that it is hormones that decide your body build. Just swallow the opposites sex hormones for a while to find out.

      Not necessarily. The major difference between male and female faces is the supraorbital ridge (the bony ridge under your eyebrows). This does not change much with hormone treatment after puberty, although there are quite a few plastic surgeons who specialize in removing this in transgender patients...

  22. Causation? by Susceptor · · Score: 1

    I have a problem with these studies, mainly, that the method used to "test" a particular factor often does not take into account other factors. For example people with higher testosterone levels tend to have more square faces. Can this account for women being able to tell whether a man has higher levels of testosterone?

    --
    Fool me once...shame on you, fool me twice...won't be fooled again (our president)
    1. Re:Causation? by colinrichardday · · Score: 1

      That may be the point of the study.

  23. Women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've heard of those.

    ++nerdMythLevel; // oops

    1. Re:Women? by donscarletti · · Score: 1

      Today I got to talk to 7 women and I didn't even have to pay a single one of them. One of them even laughed at my jokes and stuff, it was awesome. The unfortunent thing is that it won't happen again for weeks.

      --
      When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
  24. W....t..f? by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 4, Funny
    From the article:
    About nine out of 10 men chose the baby picture, roughly 12 percent expressed no interest in the baby picture, and the remaining subjects had a range of interest.

    Words cannot express my bewilderment.

    1. Re:W....t..f? by aug24 · · Score: 1
      More precisely, those words exactly represent the bewilderment of the journalist who was faced with a big bunch of numbers and told to write an article on them.

      J.

      --
      You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
    2. Re:W....t..f? by yfkar · · Score: 1

      So around 90% chose the baby picture, 12% weren't interested and the remaining, ummm..., -2% had a "range of interest"?

    3. Re:W....t..f? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suppose 85% could be describes as "About nine out of 10", so this would allow 85%, 12% and 3%. Or maybe some of the subjects had no interest in either picture but picked the baby because they had to make a choice. Seems more likely that the story's author is confused, though.

  25. If this was true ... by subStance · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... then why are we so often told the female initiated divorce rate is so high (over 50% when I heard last. sorry no sources). If they were *that* good at picking spouses, then you'd think that you'd see more guys initiating divorces than women, right ?

    Am I missing something ? (and please spare the "women don't know what they want" comments ... more than a little harsh in my view).

    --
    Servlet v2.4 container in a single 161KB jar file ? Try Winstone
    1. Re:If this was true ... by Bwian_of_Nazareth · · Score: 1

      Maybe because testosterone level and willingness to have children are not the most important things when it comes to a happy marriage?

    2. Re:If this was true ... by wwahammy · · Score: 1

      over 50% isn't necessarily high when it comes to female initiated divorce considering that there should be around 50% male initiated divorce as well... now if it was 75% female initiated we'd have something to talk about.

    3. Re:If this was true ... by iogan · · Score: 1

      It's because women don't know wh... oh. sorry. nevermind.

    4. Re:If this was true ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      How about if you look at the statistics in a diffrent manner. Women have, at this time, a level of independance and earning potential that they haven't had in the past. Divorce rates are predicted by a combuination of the GINI (an indicator of the distrabution of income), women's employment, and GDP/per capita and finally the differance for what a man earns for a job and what a women earns for the same job. (Source: my own calculation in graduate level Econometrics) Perhaps, women are getting all they "need" from a mariage, and men haven't been socially reprogramed yet to give women what they want out of marriage.

      This impact of women's economic position is further increased by our pratices of paying child support and splitting all of the marriage assets equally.

      If you think divorce is a bad thing, out law child support, and make a man keep all the marriage assest. In, 20 years you will all but wipe it out.

      If you think divorce is a good thing, increase women's payrates and give them more preferantal treatment in divorce proceedings.

      With this anaylasis you don't show a negative change women's ability to pick mates, you just show a change in what women's wants are.

      [On that note, I'm tieing the not in December. Wish me, luck.]
      -lemur

    5. Re:If this was true ... by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      TFA mentions that women are attracted to different features (testosterone or fatherlyness) depending on where they are in their reproductive cycle. The divorce rate can easily be explained by either women deciding to marry their favorite fuck in the hopes that he will or can be changed when needed, or by women marrying the paternal types and missing their single sex life.

  26. In other news... by Khyber · · Score: 3, Funny

    69% of women were able to correctly identify their husbands purely by the sound and odor of their flatulence.

    More at 6...

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  27. Originally Read: Women Get Lots From Male Faces by TheBashar · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Sit on my face and tell me that you love me." --Monty Python

    1. Re:Originally Read: Women Get Lots From Male Faces by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 1
      "Sit on my face and tell me that you love me." --Monty Python

      Drew: I'm thinking about taking that new chick from Logistics. If things go right I might be showing her my O-face.........You know: Oooooooh! Ooooooooh!

  28. What's better? by mano_k · · Score: 1

    The usual pale face with the dark shadows under the eyes and the three days growth or the nasty sunburn I'm wearing right now?

    And why do I automatically reduce all such topics to "who can I get a woman?"?. Oh right, I'm posting on /.!

  29. Heh by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Of course, the study did not look at what men were able to tell about women by looking at photographs of their female body parts."

    Well, I can look at a chick's beard and tell she's got lotsa testosterone.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  30. 100% by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 0, Redundant

    From TFA

    Additionally, researchers presented the male subjects with a picture of a baby and a picture of an adult, and were asked which picture they preferred: About nine out of 10 men chose the baby picture, roughly 12 percent expressed no interest in the baby picture, and the remaining subjects had a range of interest.

    When I last did maths nine out of ten = 90%, so

    • 90% - choose baby picture
    • 12% - no interest in baby picture
    • The remaining subjects - -2% range of interests

    It makes you wonder how good the research is when the can't get the basic maths right!

    --
    init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    1. Re: 100% by enitime · · Score: 1
      "When I last did maths nine out of ten = 90%, so"
      ...
      "It makes you wonder how good the research is when the can't get the basic maths right!"

      88% is "About nine out of 10". Which is what the quote in your post said.

    2. Re: 100% by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 1

      Still doesn't leave much for the The remainder. Even if the remainder is as low as 3% were down to 85% and describing 85% as nine out of ten is pushing it a bit.

      --
      init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    3. Re: 100% by morie · · Score: 1

      Since 9 out of 10 only has one significant digit and 90% has two, you have just implied 10x the original accuracy. The difference between 9*10^-1 and 9.0*10^-1 is that 9*10^-1 ranges from 8.5*10^-1 to 9.4/9/*10^-1 and 9.0*10^-1 ranges from 8.95*10^-1 to 9.04/9/*10^-1 (.4/9/ denoting .49999999999 -> ad inf).

      range (1.15*10^-1 to 1,24/9/*10^-1) + range (8.5*10^-1 to 9.4/9/*10^-1) can definately include 1./0/

      --
      Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
    4. Re: 100% by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 1

      In a way that is my point. TFA presents the data as

      • nine out of ten - a pretty general figure that could range from 85% - 95%
      • 12% - suddenly we've gained an extra level of accuracy
      • The remainder which could be anything.

      At the most generous end of the spectrum the remainder comes to 3%. This seems very small. The 'undecided' figure is usually bigger than this. My conclusion is that the data is, at best, sloppily presented, and at worst, simply wrong. If this was presented to me as a paper it would be handed back for a rewrite.

      --
      init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    5. Re: 100% by enitime · · Score: 1

      If the survey said "Pick A or B", the remainder is 0.

    6. Re: 100% by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 1

      And any student who passed me a paper with an A/B choice and then talked about the remainder would find his degree prospects diminishing rapidly.

      --
      init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    7. Re: 100% by Golias · · Score: 1

      At the most generous end of the spectrum the remainder comes to 3%. This seems very small. The 'undecided' figure is usually bigger than this

      Not when about 90% answered the same way, it's not.

      If you were to ask 1000 men, "do you feel the need to have a sex change?" the "undecided" percentage would probably be less than one percent.

      If you asked 1000 women, "are you currently in or near the third trimester of a pregnancy?" I bet you would get an even smaller percentage of "undecided" answers.

      If I were to ask you, "would you like me to punch you right in the throat with an extended knuckle?" the chances of you saying you were "undecided" are statistically insignificant.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  31. Research abstract and article by FleaPlus · · Score: 5, Informative

    How about using a proper source for this study?

    The summary (and the linked articles) are so sensationalised it is ridiculous.

    The BBC have a slightly better written article


    Better yet, here's the actual research abstract and article published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The article seems to be accessible without an institutional subscription, but just in case, here's the abstract text:

    Reading men's faces: women's mate attractiveness judgments track men's testosterone and interest in infants

    James R. Roney, Katherine N. Hanson, Kristina M. Durante, Dario Maestripieri

    This study investigated whether women track possible cues of paternal and genetic quality in men's faces and then map perception of those cues onto mate attractiveness judgments. Men's testosterone concentrations served as a proxy for genetic quality given evidence that this hormone signals immunocompetence, and men's scores on an interest in infants test were chosen as prima facie markers of paternal quality. Women's perceptions of facial photographs of these men were in fact sensitive to these two variables: men's scores on the interest in infants test significantly predicted women's ratings of the photos for how much the men like children, and men's testosterone concentrations significantly predicted women's ratings of the men's faces for masculinity. Furthermore, men's actual and perceived affinity for children predicted women's long-term mate attractiveness judgments, while men's testosterone and perceived masculinity predicted women's short-term mate attractiveness judgments. These results suggest that women can detect facial cues of men's hormone concentrations and affinity for children, and that women use perception of these cues to form mate attractiveness judgments.


    On a related note, this reminds me of research previously done linking finger-length ratios with things like testosterone levels, sexual orientation, and male aggressiveness.

    1. Re:Research abstract and article by billcopc · · Score: 1

      On a related note, this reminds me of research previously done linking finger-length ratios with things like testosterone levels, sexual orientation, and male aggressiveness.

      Hey I could be a great supporter of that research. I have very large and long fingers, medically dangerous high testerone levels, progressive sexual orientation *rimshot*, and unrivalled aggressiveness. Where my paid testimonial ? :P

      --
      -Billco, Fnarg.com
  32. Simple Hack by s-gen · · Score: 2, Funny
    For example people with higher testosterone levels tend to have more square faces.
    Maybe you could hack womens testosterone detection algorithms simply by drawing a big square on your face - a far stronger signal than a 'real' square face could ever be.

    Worth a try?
  33. And another study by Aceticon · · Score: 3, Funny

    In another study it has been found that women are very able at reading a man's williness to have sex from his face.

    One participant in this study commented: "I just kept saying 'is willing' for each and every photo they showed me. In the end they told me i got every one of them right."

    Another participant said that "this was just too easy" and that "the hanging drewling tongues and the eager looks or their [the men in the photos] faces where dead giveways".

    Undisclousured sources told us of having overheard the main researcher on this study comment to his assistant that "this is our best scheme for getting girls phone numbers ever".

  34. Uuuuuh by repvik · · Score: 1

    I think I need glasses. I read "Women Get Lots of Info From Male Feces". Can't they just ask?

    1. Re:Uuuuuh by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      > I read "Women Get Lots of Info From Male Feces".

      Man, I am SOOOOO glad I'm not the only one!! :)

  35. $2,000-a-pop? by Nehmo · · Score: 1

    A saliva test for testosterone level doesn't cost "$2,000-a-pop".
    From the article: "The men's testosterone tests were around a couple thousand dollars", Psychology Assistant Professor James Roney said. That means all the pops totaled $2K.

    --
    (||) Nehmo (||)
  36. this is the sort of crap by obnoxiousbastard · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...gives research a bad name.

    Who funded their work? Who do they answer too? Why aren't they FIRED, FIRED FIRED!?

    More importantly- what legitimate research was overlooked so that this heaping, steaming pile of dung could be funded?

    Wonder why we haven't cured AIDS or have an engine that gets 100 MPG? Well, there's your answer.

    --
    Is that a SCSI connector or are you just glad to see me?
  37. Control group by Serious+Simon · · Score: 2, Informative

    Which percentage of *men* were able to judge the men with the highest testosterone levels by looking at the photographs? I would not be surprised if guessing this by looking at someone's physical traits (jaw squareness, beard growth, ...) does not require some special capability specific to women.

    1. Re:Control group by Surt · · Score: 1

      I think the suprise is supposed to be over women being smart enough to do it. No surprise if men are too.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    2. Re:Control group by destuxor · · Score: 1

      If you need proof that men know testosterone better than women, think about how men want to be Clint Eastwood, while women like Tom Cruise.

  38. It's not like I have karrma to burn. by vilms · · Score: 0

    But let the record show that I laughed long and hard at that.
    And even now, having wiped the coffee from my KVM, I am snickering.
    Thanks!

  39. Faeces by GalfWender · · Score: 1

    Did anyone else read this as Women Get Lots of Info From Male Faeces?

  40. Really? by Scyber · · Score: 1

    Women have faces? Never noticed.

  41. Science heading downhill, moderators on crack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL. The only post to say something sensible about the crap pseudo-science study and the state of science funding in the US in general, and it gets modded as flamebait.

    That's not Science, Feynman would spin in his grave.

    Par for the course for Slashdot moderators not to realize that though.

    1. Re:Science heading downhill, moderators on crack by obnoxiousbastard · · Score: 0

      Thanks A.C. I think that I hit some one's sore spot.

      More than likely a PHD living comfortably off a gov't chese grant to study nothing of scientific significance.

      I may be an Obnoxiousbastard but I call them like I see them.

      Here's an idea: lets not fund psuedo-soft-science garbage and concentrate on REAL SCIENCE like Biology, Mathmatics, Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Astronomy, etc- you know- REAL SCIENCES WITH REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS THAT MIGHT BENEFIT THE REAL WORLD- not the tabloids.

      --
      Is that a SCSI connector or are you just glad to see me?
  42. Don't get involved with single mothers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Old Slashdotter to young slashdotters: do not get saddled with a ready made family. Do not get in the situation of being financially responsible for an alpha's seed.

    When a single mother coworker hits on you ... then you not interested.
    When a female coworker tries to set you up with her single mother (friend/daughter/neighbor) ... then you not interested.

    Trust me and not your penis! Avoid these women like the avian flu. They'll stop f*cking you a month after the wedding. They will ruin your life and drain you financially.

    1. Re:Don't get involved with single mothers by quarterbrain · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You poor naive soul. Every woman stops giving it up once you've gotten married.

      And while we're generalizing, every man that takes a wife or even a girlfriend has to divert energy away from what they want to attending to her needs seriously altering your life. There's also a vigorous sucking in the trouser area that occurs - unfortunately it quickly moves from where you want to somewhere in your wallet.

  43. slashdot article tag.... by 3seas · · Score: 1

    yeah.... guys looking at body parts of women can affect testorone levels in guys.

    anyone want to join in that testing?

    disclaimer: joining such a test group doesn't mean it'll be pictures of playboy models....

  44. Faces? by BenjyD · · Score: 1

    You don't need to look at the face, just the fingers. (Queue hundreds of Slashdotters staring at their hands)

  45. Misread the title as by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Women Get Lots of Info From Male Faeces

  46. Citations by scubamage · · Score: 1

    Apparently the study hasn't been peer reviewed or published yet. Its not listed in PsychINFO, or ebsco. Even if it was published a few days ago it should be listed. Although James Roney does have about 10 other studies to his name - all appearing to do with human mating behaviors. I tend to not trust things until they've been peer-reviewed. Call me picky.

  47. Stupid and Fairly Insulting by kria · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As a woman, I am as insulted by the suggestion that I'm just out to find a man to be a good father as many men are at the suggestion that they just looks for big breasts and the like. This study wasn't looking at which men women would really date - it looked at their reaction to pictures. Whooptefreakingdo.

    Perhaps I'm spoiled by having a lot of intelligent female friends, but we're looking for someone to spend time with, not just someone to make a baby with.

    1. Re:Stupid and Fairly Insulting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps I'm spoiled by having a lot of intelligent female friends, but we're looking for someone to spend time with, not just someone to make a baby with.

      Honey, I can provide you all with both. You just have to move to Utah.

    2. Re:Stupid and Fairly Insulting by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "This study wasn't looking at which men women would really date - it looked at their reaction to pictures. Whooptefreakingdo."

      Getting your foot into the door has nothing to do with dating?

      "Perhaps I'm spoiled by having a lot of intelligent female friends, but we're looking for someone to spend time with, not just someone to make a baby with."

      TFA says you're actually looking for both, someone "to spend time with" but then somebody else to make a baby with on the side. None of your friends have ever done anything that can be described as this?

      Even if not, I have my own anecdotal evidence to counter yours, a friend whose fiance cheated on him and got pregnant; he found out and yet she still managed to convince him to go through with the wedding.

      Of course, I also know another guy who went into a very bad marriage solely because of cleavage as well.

    3. Re:Stupid and Fairly Insulting by Surt · · Score: 1

      I don't think that's the suggestion of the research. I suspect the research has more to do with long developed biological imperatives created by evolution over millions of years before this recent 100,000 year period of relative wealth and tranquility that allowed you to think about (and have) the time to spend with someone to spend time with. So it's interesting to see what odd skills women have developed in terms of the biological imperative, even if they aren't as relevant today. Those skills won't go away any time soon, and are no doubt impacting what sorts of men women are physically attracted to, which may be information of interest to women who don't want to allow themselves to be so influenced.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    4. Re:Stupid and Fairly Insulting by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

      Even if not, I have my own anecdotal evidence to counter yours, a friend whose fiance cheated on him and got pregnant; he found out and yet she still managed to convince him to go through with the wedding.

      So when does he inherit her father's massive corporate holdings? We want the details.

      --
      There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
    5. Re:Stupid and Fairly Insulting by kria · · Score: 1

      The large majority of married female friends I have are married to men with whom they were friends before they started dating.

      TFA says you're actually looking for both, someone "to spend time with" but then somebody else to make a baby with on the side. None of your friends have ever done anything that can be described as this?
      That's better? And you're translating "casual relationship" to "spend time with", when I'm most certainly not talking about casual relationships. And no, none of my friends have gotten pregnant and then went daddy shopping. The closest I can think of was a girl who was stupid right out of high school (possibly a Prom Pregnancy) who then realized her boyfriend was a jerk. And she has one of the most screwed up lives of anyone I've been close friends with.

  48. The inverse is also true by billcopc · · Score: 2, Funny

    While our crack team of experts work to dig up the sketchy source of this disinformation, I would like to announce that researchers at U of Billco have discovered that men have a remarkable ability to assess a women's bitchiness levels and their interest in no-string-attached sex merely by looking at their facial features. 69 percent of men were able to correctly identify psychos based on early skin wrinkling and fake tans. Saliva samples were also taken from each woman in the study and tested for rabies with a $20-a-pop test. Of course, the study did not look at what women were able to tell about men by conniving with their exes.

    --
    -Billco, Fnarg.com
  49. If this was true ...Evolution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Maybe because testosterone level and willingness to have children are not the most important things when it comes to a happy marriage?"

    True, but any theory that starts with "survival of the fittest" doesn't concern itself with things like "happy marriage".

  50. Sort of by Mille+Mots · · Score: 1
    ...women don't know what they want!

    Actually, in my half vast experience, women do know what they want. Eventually. It's a question of timing. They know what they want when they know what they want. The rest of the time, well, they don't even know that they want anything at all.

    Here's an example. I know a female who owned a very nice, late model automobile. It had low miles, all the options, looked great and ran like it was brand new. She never talked about cars, let alone getting a new one.

    One day, while she was out to lunch, she happened to drive past the Mercedes-Benz dealer. Two days later, she shows up in a new SLK 350. Apparently, she didn't even know she wanted a new car until she saw this one. Then it became an imperative. She didn't just want this car, she needed this car. More importantly, she deserved this car because of all the hard work she'd been doing and her diligence in maintaining her finances.

    The key here is that she didn't know she wanted a new car until she wanted a new car. See?

    --
    High L

  51. Faces say a lot. by jolshefsky · · Score: 1
    A reliable source has also noted that it's easy for anyone to spot a pedophile. The abstract outlines its scienticfic validity:
    Ever see a guy at work or school who sends off creepy vibes, and you say to yourself "man, I know that guy rapes children"? Some mental health doctors claim that there's no way to tell a pedophile apart from anyone else just by looks alone. Wrong. I scoured the FBI's most wanted list and found some examples that confirmed my theory.
    --
    --- Jason Olshefsky

    Karma: Poser (mostly affected by adding this line long after everyone else did)

    1. Re:Faces say a lot. by ironring2006 · · Score: 1
      Apparently its not so easy. After taking the test:
      "Out of 1,085,116 people who took this test, the average score is: %50.0"
      An average score of 50.0% for a yes/no question just goes to show that the average person does no better than flipping a coin when trying to spot the pedophile.

      Funny site though, with some interesting commentary, as ridiculous as it is.

  52. Then you picked the wrong woman by DG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously, if you have to make major alterations to your lifestyle in order to keep your wife/girfriend happy, then you chose the wrong wife/girlfriend.

    Your signifigant other and you should share goals and lifestyles; you should click into each other's lives with little to no behavioural modification for either party.

    Your primary disagreements should be about *timing*, not philosophy - ie, you both want to do X, and the only real question is "when?". If you want X and she wants Y... problem.

    Note that I'm talking in broad strokes here. Both of you will have to modifiy little bits of your behaviour as "social grease" to help make it easier to get along. There is plenty of give and take in a good marriage. But the give and take should be over small stuff, not major life issues & choices.

    I was one of those guys who tried to overhaul his personality to fit the needs and wants of the Girl of the Moment, and that only ever led to tears. Once I decided to be me, and to find a girl that fit me the way I was (and vice versa) I met my wife and I've been blissfully happy (on the marital front at least) ever since.

    I think a lot of guys, particularly technical, goal-oriented guys, get focussed on "making the relationship work" and start making these big personal sacrifices to that end, thinking that it gets them points. It doesn't. If you have to make radical alterations to who you are in order to keep your girlfriend, then let her go and find one who likes you as you are.

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
    1. Re:Then you picked the wrong woman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sublime... that was a breath of fresh air on a site that usually seems overrun with clueless buffoons, many of the Maxim variety.

      Kasey

    2. Re:Then you picked the wrong woman by Alric · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This advice is fine but not necessarily true.

      Enjoying a spouse openly, comfortably, and even vulnerably is certainly a trait of a successful relationship. However, a successful marriage is not built on enjoying each other and "being who you really are." Those are effects, not causes of a happy relationship, IMO.

      Most couple don't truly realize marriage is (in theory) a lifetime commitment. Here's the big secret nobody tells young couples: people change. You and your spouse are going to change dramatically over the course of your marriage, and there's a likelihood that unless you are careful, you will end up disliking each other in 30 years. The best you can hope for is that as each of you changes, the other will adapt to your new personality or have ability to tell you calmly that you are changing for the worse. I won't go into a long tangent about the requisites for changing together successfully, but I basically think deep mutual respect and completely honest communication are the biggest ingredients.

      Here's the other part of your sentiment that is slightly flawed. Perhaps you really need to change. Maybe you are an inconsiderate, arrogant asshole, and the only person who would date you is a meek little insecure person who will let you walk all over him/her. Maybe a partner is trying to change you for the better.

      But yes, I absolutely agree with you: being comfortable and open with your partner is absolutely essential. If you don't have that, it seems that you're missing the fundamental point of dating and marriage (at least for secular humanists). The most you can hope for in this life is to understand yourself and this world around you. By loving, trusting, living with and focusing all of your powers of observation and appreciation on this one person, maybe -- just maybe -- you will understand humanity, yourself, and this whole absurd universe a tiny bit better.

      That's my current theory at least. It will probably change next year.

  53. Re:You've proven it yourself by tribentwrks · · Score: 1
    God would never talk about proving anything, only faith.

    I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word

    Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me

    Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper

    By inviting logic into your realm, you have forsaken your own holiness and been cast down to the depths of Slashdot! Whither in thine own trolldom, and despair!

  54. This is a pathetic excuse for "science." by scromp · · Score: 1

    ..and someone better than me has already ripped it apart.

    1. Re:This is a pathetic excuse for "science." by TheWormThatFlies · · Score: 1

      Good article; it points out many of the obvious errors.

      For those of you who are too lazy to REOTFA, I offer a highlight: the sample space of men was 39. The sample space of women was 29. And in the absence of information to the contrary, I can only assume that they were all from the same small geographical area. So you know what this study tells us about "inherent evolutionary imperatives" in the entire female gender? Bugger all, that's what.

      Something the critical article doesn't address is the way "interest in infants" was determined in the men, which to me is the major WTF here. Other sources say that they were asked to choose between pictures of adults and pictures of babies, based on which they "preferred". The context in which this task was presented is not mentioned.

      I don't think that there is any context which could possibly make this task an accurate metric for "interest in infants". If you don't tell the man what criteria he's supposed to be using to judge the photos, there's nothing stopping him from judging them on artistic merit (although if it's a series of photos, he'd have to be pretty daft not to notice that he has to choose between baby and non-baby every time, and infer that this is significant). On the other hand, if you say "choose the photo of the person you think you'd like the most", or anything like that, you are obviously asking him whether or not he likes children. You might as well just ask him if he likes children.

      So I think all this elaborate effort was dead in the water before we even got to the stupidly leading questions that the women were asked.

      In other news, 77% of women can identify men who subscribe to kooky pseudoscientific theories about psychology, on the basis of the insulting generalisations they habitually make in Slashdot posts.

  55. You don't trust people who get laid about sex? by SlappyBastard · · Score: 1
    Well, maybe we could win the more wars by dropping the army in favor of the top 12 from American Idol.

    The general rule is that if you want to find the source you just follow the river. That rule applies to streams of bullshit, too.

    --
    I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
  56. So, women are flighty and play games by SlappyBastard · · Score: 1
    This one deserves to be filed in the "no shit" pile.

    Let's face it... the equation goes like so:

    - Chick screws rugged non-provider.
    - Non-provider runs off to screw some other dumbass broad.
    - Chick hooks some poor slob into raising knuckle-dragger's offspring.
    - Nice guy teaches kid to play catch.
    - Kid flips out and bludgeons nice guy screaming, "You're not my real father, you fucking dodo!"
    - Kid grows up and finds dumbass chick to breed.
    - Rinse and repeat.

    --
    I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
  57. And just where do we find... by Nursie · · Score: 1

    ...this magical dope-smoking, playstation-playing, tech-mad, sex-loving female?

    1. Re:And just where do we find... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No dope, but I found someone who matched the rest of the criteria. Fool that I am, I let her get away.

    2. Re:And just where do we find... by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 1

      College?

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    3. Re:And just where do we find... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Teh internets? I'm looking at you, Myspace.

  58. What Men Think by Ranger · · Score: 1

    "Of course, the study did not look at what men were able to tell about women by looking at photographs of their female body parts."

    Manthought, "Boy! I'd like to stick my... ...mmm beer... ...football game on... ..oh man look at the hooters on her..."

    Slashdotmanthought, "I better get some Kleenex."

    --
    "You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
  59. My face by zakkie · · Score: 1

    All they'd get from it is "man, he is UGLY"!

  60. "The Naked Face" by SpaceToast · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not to turn the snark abruptly off, but Malcolm Gladwell wrote a hella good article about facial cues a few years ago: http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_08_05_a_face.htm

    I don't find any of this hard to believe. If we didn't subconsciously give away cues to our personalities, how would animation work? Or for that matter, acting? I think it's easy to be scared at just how much we do give away.

  61. Agree on concepts, disagree on terminology by DG · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think we are in perfect agreement on the core concepts, but we seem to differ on the terminology.

    And maybe on this - yes, maybe you really are an arrogant asshole who NEEDS to change in order to become a better person. But that is YOUR responsibility, and you will have to realize the necessity and then actualize the change more or less on your own, or it'll never take.

    Because if your girlfriend is attempting to change you away from that sort of behaviour... flip it around to her perspective. Now SHE is breaking the "I can change him!" rule and SHE is in danger of having it end in tears.

    You cannot force major changes in behavioral philosophy in the context of a relationship. You can help someone who *wants* to change themself, and you can make minor changes (for example, I'm a lot better about leaving dirty socks lying around than I once was :) but life is too short to try and make major changes to somebody else's personality, and the attempt almost NEVER works.

    You time is much better spent finding the person who is a match for your personality - or if it is YOU who are the problem, making the changes to your personality yourself.

    Big agreement on "deep mutual respect and completely honest communication" though. If that respect and honesty are not there, LEAVE.

    I know a lot of guys who got into horrible relationships because they convinced themselves that the girl was their last chance, and they made sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice to try and keep her around - and then one day the boom gets lowered and they are heartbroken ON TOP OF all those months/years of suffering. There's no such thing as a "last chance" or "only hope" - learn to walk away! It's not personal failure to realize that the relationship isn't working.

    While I'm at it, the phrase "she's out of my league" needs to be stricken from the language: the concept is fundamentally bogus. Why be self-limiting? Chase the one you want. And if she isn't interested, shrug and move on.

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
    1. Re:Agree on concepts, disagree on terminology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In 30 years I haven't been able to find such a person, although I admit I stopped caring 3-4 years ago. Not everybody needs/wants to be in a relationship. I for one can asure you that I'll spend the rest of my life alone.

  62. Prufe by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    "deities and their buddies"

    If you were a deity, that would be "deities and our buddies". Though omnipotence means the power to make mistakes in every post.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  63. A major oversight by melquiades · · Score: 1

    Hmm, it looks like the researches only tested woman for perception of these features. I wonder whether men would be as good?

    All the publicity makes this out as a kind of mate selection, battle of the sexes thing -- when there's nothing in this research to show that it isn't just that all humans are good at perceiving hormone levels and infant attentiveness.

    So why did they only use women in their perception sample group? Sheesh.

    1. Re:A major oversight by FleaPlus · · Score: 1

      So why did they only use women in their perception sample group? Sheesh.

      Because the researchers have finite resources, and doubling the number of subjects isn't always feasible. I'm sure they're planning on doing similar experiments with males in the near future, though.

      Of course, the effect of testosterone also tends to be very different depending on one's sex.

  64. Yikes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even correcting for the usual high background levels of bitter misogyny on Slashdot -- and I've been reading it so long I seldom even notice it anymore -- you are in serious need of help.

  65. "amazing shit with statistics" by tomzyk · · Score: 1
    About nine out of 10 men chose the baby picture, roughly 12 percent expressed no interest in the baby picture, and the remaining subjects had a range of interest.
    90% + 12% + x% = 100% ... WTF Mate?

    This kinda reminds me a quote about Reganomics. It went something like: "Pretend this apple is our National income. Take the apple and cut it in half. The first half of the apple is for the National Budget, the second half is for National Defense, and the other half is for the National Debt."
    --
    Karma: NaN
  66. Must be too early in the morning by swoogan · · Score: 1

    I'm probably the only one, but I read the title as "Women Get Lots of Info From Male Feces". Which did seem a lot more interesting than the actual subject. A subject that I have seen tested at least 5 years ago. Not to mention that it seems like common sense that the #1 hormone effecting male development effects the features of the face, and that women would be able to detect the differences.

    --

    Swoogan
    sigs are for losers...and ppl who can think of one.

  67. thank you by gr8dude · · Score: 1
    Mda... your post [and the other guy's too] are pretty interesting. This "I can change myself" philosophy is rather inefficient.

    I know that there are people who like me with "all settings set to default", yet I stick to the approach you guys have been criticizing. The interesting thing is that I have conducted a minor research on the topic ( http://area51.cimaea.nl/arhiva/2006/03/perfect.htm l, but something tells me you don't happen to accidentally speak Romanian, do you?); the objective was to determine which are the features women are looking for in men. One of the conclusions was that
    the requirements are so generic, that basically any guy meets them (with minor adjustments*). Probably because most of the requests were at the logical level, and targeted personal skills (communication, ability to listen, back her up emotionally, etc), vs. being 'physical' ones (such as skin-color, height, strength, etc)
    Perhaps the fact that their "request-lists" (and the essays that accompanied them) were so generic means that women are also often choosing the "I can change myself" approach?

    The weird part is that I do understand that this is a bad|inefficient|not-optimal|.. strategy (not only judging by your comments, but also as a conclusion I made from the things I've been thru), but deep inside I believe that I am flexible enough to be with anyone...

    Eh well, I just wanted to thank you for the informative posts, I'll have new material for analysis :-)

    * minor usually becomes major, according to /.ers
  68. Men with beards want you ... err I mean GNU by mingrassia · · Score: 1

    What do men with beards want? They want GNU!

    It's funny ... laugh ;-)

    --
    OS X, Linux, Tivo, Amiga, my fascination with cult-like technologies would intrigue any psychiatrist.
  69. bad research also sucks by jonskerr · · Score: 1

    It totally IS a fluff piece. The findings may be perfectly valid, but did you see those sample sizes? TFA doesn't talk about their methods hardly at all, but this appeared on the front of YESTERDAY's St Paul Pioneer Press, and there were less than 50 of each gender of test subjects, and all the females were college age. I'd like to see a study done on women 35-46, the category I date in.

    --
    O~ Him that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green. -- Francis Bacon
  70. sorry, did I miss something? is 29 a sample size? by shadeyk · · Score: 1

    My stats may be a bit rusty, but jesus! A sample size of 29 undergraduate students? Come on. And we draw conclusions from this? A sample of size of 29K with 50K mens faces, then maybe I'd look twice.

  71. try by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    PUA, sarging, dd, style, mystery, rj etc
    get ahead in the game