Women don’t go for guys who smile

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Updated: June 26, 2011 12:38AM

Women find happy men significantly less sexually attractive than swaggering or brooding men, according to a new University of British Columbia study. Researches say the findings may help to explain the enduring allure of “bad boys.”

More than 1,000 adult participants rated the sexual attractiveness of hundreds of images of the opposite sex engaged in displays of happiness (broad smiles), pride (raised heads, puffed-up chests) and shame (lowered heads, averted eyes).

Women were least attracted to the smiling, happy men, preferring those who looked proud and powerful or even moody and ashamed. Shame is believed to elicit trust, the researchers say.

Past research has associated smiling with a lack of dominance.