What Do Attractive Women See In So-So Men?

(CBS)  The images are everywhere --a gorgeous woman in love with a geeky guy.

As CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker observes, we've seen it in the movies, in sitcoms such as "Sex in the City" and "The King of Queens," and even in reality shows such as "Beauty and the Geek."

There are endless onscreen love scenes in which the couples seem mismatched, but pop culture may have gotten it right, according to a new study.

The research, published in the "Journal of Family Psychology," found that, among 82 newlywed couples, wedded bliss belonged to those in which the bride, not the groom, was good-looking.

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Photos: Celebrity Couples

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James McNulty of the University of Tennessee says, "Physical attractiveness is very important to men, and it tends to be a little bit more important to men than women. ... What we were surprised about, though, is that the importance of physical attractiveness carried into these marriages. We all know that it matters when we first get to know somebody, but these were established relationships."

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Photos: Legendary Couples

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That is, Whitaker notes, good news too for countless celebrity couples: Howard Stern has a beautiful mate; Donald Trump has had a few. Since the days of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, there's been a fascination with odd couples. Rhys Ifans of "Notting Hill," in another example, is engaged to Sienna Miller.

Being a leader, having money, music, and laughter, can all ignite a spark of love for women, Whitaker points out.

But what makes a marriage last?

"You look five years down the road," remarks Dr. David Swanson, a clinical psychologist, "and the looks are taken for granted. Looks quickly fade. What really becomes much more important is how you communicate with each other."

But, concludes Whitaker, it seems that how you look is what gets the conversation started.

[caykasagi]

Mens humour is very very different from womens humour so its impossible for a woman to like a man for his humour. thats why men like seinfeld and 95% of the women don''t.
if it was all up to money and humour, michael richards (kramer) would have been the happiest person alife and not the racist sexually frustrated *** he is now.

[dwath1]

Mekhong, curious about your handle. Spent a lot of my life on one side or the other of that river.
dwath1

[iceman_1960]

"Take Donald Trump, for instance."
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In the film "Barbarians at the Gates," James Garner is admiring a beautiful painting in a rich man"s mansion.

"It"s Monet" his girlfriend notes.

"Yeah, lots of it" replies Garner.

[rushlimpdrug]

I do recall the old saying:

"Beauty is skin deep,
but ugly goes to the bone."

[iceman_1960]

I remember a comedian long ago doing a bit about this:

"When people see a homely man with a beautiful woman, they say, "He has character. On him it doesn"t show, but he has it..."

...When they see a handsome man with a homely woman, they say, "If Moses had seen her, there"d be another Commandment..."

[JHanna3]

The truth is average men develop their skills on the inside and become beautiful lovers, better friends and great conversationalists!

[iceman_1960]

What about handsome men and so-so women ?

Hugh Grant and Divine Brown, for instance.

[rohink-2009]

voxpopulus

Thanks for an intelligent comment on this post. I wish you and your girlfriend all the happiness.

[taylpatr]

TO AINTTAKEN:Cheney''s wife knows too much. He CAN''T dump her. Otherwise she''d be pushing up sagebrush somewhere out in big, wonderful Wyoming. She''s got the video of him and Rove singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop" in their pinafores.

[iceman_1960]

"What Do Attractive Women See In So-So Men?"
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Women are attracted to men with great personalities.

Take Donald Trump, for instance.

His wife is very beautiful, and she was able to look beyond Trump''s comb-over and his puffy face, and see a tall, strong man with a great sense of humor and a lot of pizzazz.