Being witty and creative makes you more attractive - but only if you're a man

You'd like to think that looks aren't everything when it comes to dating: that you will attract partners by your wit, warmth and creativity as much as your physical appearance.

And that’s certainly true – at least for men. Women on the other hand are rather less lucky.

A study published this week by the Royal Society found that if you’re an “average-looking” or ugly man, being witty, entertaining and imaginative will increase your overall attractiveness.

But the bad news for women is that having an interesting personality will do little to improve your dating prospects – in fact, it could even harm them.

The research, authored by Christopher Watkins, a lecturer at Abertay University, surveyed 89 men and women with an average age of 23.

One group of participants was asked to rate the attractiveness of male and female head shots without knowing anything about them.

A second group of participants rated the same people, but this time they were supplied with information about their personalities. This came in the form of short essays they had written. In one they were asked to describe a painting, and in another they were asked to invent an additional use for a car tyre.

These essays were judged on their creativity, based on how imaginative, witty, clever and entertaining the answers were.

The volunteers rated less physically appealing men who had written creative essays as more attractive overall, - but rated less physically appealing women who had written creative essays as less attractive overall.

Meanwhile, the most good-looking women were deemed to be the most attractive, regardless of how creative they were.

“Creative guys with less attractive faces were almost identical in attractiveness to really good looking guys who were not as creative,“ Watkins told the AFP.

Creative women with less attractive faces seem to be perhaps penalised in some way.

Watkins believes the double standards can be explained by evolutionary biology. He said women are “more selective” about choosing a partner and creativity could be a sign of greater intelligence.

So if you’re a man reading this, better brush up on your witty Tinder profile.

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