This is scientific Americans 60 second science. I'm Erica Berris. Got a minute?

It turns out the best looking thing on a man, maybe a good looking woman.

Researchers report that women find a man, maybe a good-looking woman.

Researchers report that women find a man they see

with an attractive woman more desirable than unattached men.

That's according to a study in the journal Evolutionary Psychology.

Researchers had two groups of female college students rate photos of men,

all of whom had first been rated as being of average attractiveness.

The first group of 148 women was shown pictures of those men with an attractive female.

The subjects were told that the women in the photos were either a girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, cousin,

or adopted sister.

And the subjects rated the men with the girlfriends

as more desirable than the men shown with partners

described as being exes or relatives.

The second study group of 97 students

were shown average- looking men with an

attractive woman who was described as definitely a girlfriend and again the women

rated the men with the good-looking gals as more desirable than the single guys.

Plus the attached men were thought more like gals as more desirable than the single guys.

Plus, the attached men were thought more likely

to be more intelligent, trustworthy, humorous,

wealthy, and attentive.

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