Your Boyfriend Is More Likely To Kiss Your Ass If You’re Hotter Than Him

Do you ever see a ridiculously good looking person dating someone who is kind of meh and think, what the fuck is going on there? Is the fuggo loaded, or does the beauty queen just have crazy low self esteem? A study out of the University of Kentucky determined how attractiveness plays into the dynamics of a relationship, and psychologist Joshua Oltmanns found that people who date up tend to employ more “intrasexual retention tactics,” aka ass-kissing strategies.

To conduct the study, Oltmanns used something called the Mate Retention Inventory, which is questionnaire designed to figure out how often a person does things to keep their relationship. This can be anything from buying your significant other a gift, making them food, sending them cute messages, or just checking in. On top of this scale, Oltmanns had 12 volunteers rate how attractive each person was, so he could discover how physical attractiveness effects a person’s mate retention behavior.

He ultimately found that people who are less attractive than their partner were the ones performing more mate-retaining behavior. Which basically means that if your boyfriend perceives you as hotter than he is, he’s more likely to do nice things that will keep you around. It also means he’ll put up with more of your shit, which will really come in handy when he finds your extensive sex list.

Honestly, this is all pretty obvious. I don’t think anyone is that surprised to hear that people with prettier mates are going to feel the need to coax them into sticking around with presents and compliments and other forms of inadvertent bribery. This probably explains why girls tend to date down. It’s not uncommon to see a female 10 on the arm of a male 8, and now we know why — he’s scrambling to keep her using mate retention inventory. She’s obviously not complaining, because he’s showering her with gifts and verbal praise.

So basically what we can take away form this lil’ tidbit of scientific info is that if you’re looking to be showered with presents and compliments, all you have to do is find a guy who’s a couple pegs lower than you. Small price to pay for daily ass-kissing. .

[via Elite Daily]

Image via Shutterstock