Are Men With Beards Better Partners? What the Study Found

Are men with beards really better partners? Not exactly. What a 2016 study from Australia found is that women, on average, rated men with heavy stubble or full beards as more attractive for a long-term relationship than the same men clean-shaven. That is a finding about first impressions, not about who actually makes a loyal, kind or reliable partner.

The research is still interesting, though, because it hints at what people read into a face in a split second. Here is how the study worked, what it showed, what it didn't, and why your razor is far less important to a relationship than the headlines suggested.

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The study behind the headlines

The paper is called "The masculinity paradox: facial masculinity and beardedness interact to determine women's ratings of men's facial attractiveness." It was published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology in 2016 by Barnaby Dixson of the University of Queensland's School of Psychology and colleagues from Australia and Finland.

A total of 8,520 women took part online. They looked at photos of men's faces that had been altered with computer graphics so each man appeared with four levels of facial hair: clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and a full beard. On top of that, each face was digitally made more masculine or more feminine by 25% or 50%. The women rated the faces in one of three ways: general attractiveness, attractiveness for a short-term fling, or attractiveness for a long-term relationship.

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What the researchers found

• Facial hair helped in the long-term context. Beards and heavy stubble raised attractiveness ratings when women were judging a man as a long-term partner.
• It did not help for flings. For short-term relationships, facial hair did not boost ratings in the same way.
• Very masculine or very feminine faces lost out when clean-shaven. Among smooth faces, both strongly masculinised and, even more so, feminised versions were rated less attractive than the original faces.
• Beards softened the extremes. Stubble and beards reduced the penalty for faces that had been pushed too far toward masculine or feminine.

The authors summed up the relationship-context result plainly in their paper: beards "are judged as more attractive than clean-shaven faces for long-term relationships." In other words, the effect was real but specific. It did not show that bigger beards always score higher, or that clean-shaven men are only seen as casual partners.

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Why might a beard signal "long-term"?

The researchers interpret their results through evolutionary psychology. Facial hair grows after puberty and tends to make men look older and more dominant to other men. The authors suggest a beard may act as a signal of maturity and of the ability to hold one's own among rivals, and possibly of the capacity to provide and protect. Masculine bone structure, such as a strong jaw and brow, may instead be read as a sign of underlying health.

That is why they call it a "paradox." Two traits that both look typically male seem to send different messages, so women's preferences involve a trade-off rather than a simple "more masculine is better" rule.

These explanations are hypotheses. The study measured how faces were rated, not why. Cultural trends matter too: beards have gone in and out of fashion many times, and what looks mature and attractive in one decade can look scruffy in another.

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What the study does not show

• It didn't test real relationships. Nobody followed bearded and clean-shaven men to see who made better boyfriends or husbands. The headline "better partners" goes well beyond the data.
• Photos are not people. Ratings of edited faces leave out voice, humour, kindness, values and everything else that matters once you actually meet someone.
• Averages hide individual taste. Plenty of women prefer clean-shaven men, and preferences vary with culture, age and personal experience.
• Only women's ratings of men were studied. The results say nothing about same-sex attraction or what men find attractive in partners.

What actually makes a good partner

If you want to know whether someone will be a good long-term partner, their chin is a poor guide. Decades of relationship research point to behaviour instead. Psychologist John Gottman's work, for example, identifies criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling as patterns that predict trouble, while appreciation, respect and the willingness to repair after an argument help couples stay together.

Look for someone who listens, keeps promises, handles disagreement without cruelty and treats you as a teammate. Those qualities are visible whether a man shaves every morning or hasn't touched a razor in a year.

Should you grow a beard?

If you like the look and can grow one, go ahead. The study suggests a well-kept beard or heavy stubble may give a small boost in how some people judge you as a serious partner, at least at first glance. If you prefer being clean-shaven, there is no reason to change. First impressions open the door; character decides what happens after that.

A few practical tips if you do grow one:

• Keep it trimmed and shaped, especially along the neck and cheeks.
• Wash it regularly and use a little beard oil to soften the hair and skin underneath.
• Give it several weeks before judging how it suits you; the awkward patchy stage passes.
• If your skin becomes very itchy, red or sore, talk to a doctor or pharmacist.

Sources: Dixson BJ et al. (2016), The masculinity paradox, Journal of Evolutionary Biology (PubMed); Full paper, Wiley Online Library; The Four Horsemen, The Gottman Institute. Photos: Pexels, PA, Pixabay, Getty.