Outsmarting Men, Losing Attraction

"Six studies revealed that when evaluating psychologically distant targets, men showed greater attraction toward women who displayed more (vs. less) intelligence than themselves. In contrast, when targets were psychologically near, men showed less attraction toward women who outsmarted them."
Park et al., 2015



- Park, L. E., Young, A. F. & Eastwick, P. W. (2015). (Psychological) Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: Effects of Psychological Distance and Relative Intelligence on Men's Attraction to Women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(11), 1459-1473.
- photograph by Vivian Maier via