Men become more attractive with beard, study says

Men with facial hair, as we call it beard, are more attractive than men without—at least, that’s what a recent study published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology found.

According to a study published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, women view men with stubble as more attractive for short-term flings than men with full beards, which were seen as more attractive for long-term relationships. 

Investigators interviewed 8,520 women to rate photos of men for physical attractiveness in general, for a short-term or long-term relationship.

For instance, the first group of women surveyed were asked to rate photos of bearded faces based on overall sexual attractiveness, which found men with some sort of facial hair to be more attractive to those without. Women in this group found men with no facial hair or full-bearded men to be the least attractive.

Stubble was judged most attractive overall and received higher ratings for short-term flings, while full beards were seen as more attractive for long-term relationships.

“When beardedness becomes too common, it is less attractive than when it is rare,” Barnaby Dixson, one of the study’s co-authors and human behavioral ecologist at the University of Queensland, told The New York Times. “This may explain why fashions and trends in beardedness fluctuate over time.”

The study’s authors suggested beards may act as a signal of men’s age and masculine social dominance. They also said strong masculine facial features, such as a pronounced brow ridge and robust jawline, may signal underlying health.