01-14-2009 - Human World

Mark Prokosch is an evolutionary psychologist whose work focuses on mate choice. Meaning, he tries to figure out why women mate with certain men, and vice versa. I’d imagine that his field of scientific research is similar to observing people in a bar as if you were watching the Discovery Channel. Prokosch told me past research has shown that women’s mate choices are weighed heavily on appearance. “In general, women prefer the typical daring socially confident men,” he said.

But Prokosch wanted to go beyond the sexy swagger which woos we women so. He wanted to find out to what extent women value intelligence and creativity.

He made videos of 15 college men doing things like throwing a Frisbee and answering questions like why they would make a good mate and what they think of the possibility of life on Mars. Two hundred college women watched the videos, and then assessed each man’s appeal based on intelligence, creativity, attractiveness, and potential for long- or short-term relationships.

Prokosch said his video method is more “ecologically realistic” than the traditional mate choice survey. Still, attractiveness still came out on top. “Of course, physical attractiveness is the best predictor of mate appeal, both in long-term mates and in short-term mates,” Prokosch said. “That’s no surprise. We expected that.”

But it also turns out that the women’s ratings of intelligence and creativity predicted both long- and short-term relationship preferences. That means we’re more likely to date an attractive, smart, creative guy, than an attractive-but-dumb guy who can’t strum a guitar and has never even attempted to write bad poetry.

As a person who has chosen to date a smart guy who can play the guitar rather well (I’m not sure about the poetry), I can confirm the truth of this statement. But what advantage does being smart and playing the guitar have, evolutionarily?

Prokosch speculated that intelligence is an indicator of evolutionary fitness. To a woman, it confers ideas of higher social status, higher income, and more material resources, which are all nice things to pass down to your children. As for creativity, maybe it will mean that Johnny will eventually be in a cool band and get all the ladies, thereby benefiting the human race. (That’s exclusively my own speculation.) Which is to say, Prokosch intends to further his research on creativity.

Written by Lindsay Patterson

5 Responses to “Nerds: You really do have a chance”

1. Jorge Salazar says:

   January 16, 2009 at 5:57 pm

   I think the tide has turned over the past 20 years in favor of Nerd in their battle vs. Jock.

   Reply
2. Zeph says:

   January 17, 2009 at 11:36 am

   But you still have to be a good-looking nerd…
   I can’t say I’m really all that surprised by the results, I’ve never really thought of having a skill or being creative as being nerdish. Who wouldn’t take a smart attractive person over a dumb attractive person? Who would take an unattractive smart person over an attractive smart person? I think “real” nerdishness is more of a symptom stemming from other social factors.

   Reply
3. lindsay says:

   January 19, 2009 at 1:04 pm

   Jorge, I agree, Revenge of the Nerds really shifted the balance of power.

   I also agree that this research doesn’t focus as much on true “nerdiness” as other qualities that compound on physical attractiveness (although Bill Gates might make an interesting case study).

   Just as our perceptions of physical attractiveness has evolved, so has our perceptions of nerdiness. Today you can see teenage girls in t-shirts that say, “I <3 Nerds/Geeks/Boys who are skinny and pale.” Science and tech magazines like Seed and Wired are considered hip. I think it’s partially our continually changing culture, and partially nerds “rebranding” themselves.

   My favorite recent catchphrase is, “I’m a geek for…”

   Reply
4. Jay says:

   January 20, 2009 at 2:10 pm

   Check out this article in the NY Times: In ‘Geek Chic’ and Obama, New Hope for Lifting Women in Science.

   It’s an interesting article about women in science. It also references “geek chic” and “smart is the new cool.”

   If the Times has caught on to the rise of nerds, it must be true. Right?

   Reply
5. Shaun G says:

   January 27, 2009 at 6:51 pm

   Lindsay, I think you are right about your quote:

   “Just as our perceptions of physical attractiveness has evolved, so has our perceptions of nerdiness.”

   You explained it well and had a logical conclusion for the “creativity…(leading to) a cool band.

   I think this evolution of women’s perception of nerds is due to the evolution of technology and communications. Now more than ever, being a nerd in today’s society has financial benefits, with many new websites being made and a vast amount of income being created due to technological advancements. These facts show promise for the future of “nerds” and this future makes them more attractive as a mate. For this reason, I agree with you and Jorge’s post did a good job of demonstrating the tide shift from physically attractive to financially attractive.

   Additionally, I can testify to your accuracy on the high amount of girls/women with I <3 Nerds shirts because I knew a number of girls in college who owned one of those shirts and definitely fit into that niche.

   I enjoy your posts so keep up the good work!

   Reply