Happier marriages result from attractive women and uglier men

He's had many an unkind comment about his looks when set against the radiant beauty of girlfriend Sienna Miller.

But Rhys Ifans seems likely to have the last laugh because psychologists reckon that happier marriages result from attractive women who wed uglier men.

And women who marry handsome men had better watch out. Men who saw themselves as better looking than their wives were more likely to be disgruntled and have negative feelings about their marriage, experts found.

The University of Tennessee study might also explain a few other couples such as Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas and Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller.

The Tennessee team tested 82 newly-wed couples for facial attractiveness and the quality of their marriage.

Their results, in the Journal of Family Psychology, suggested most men who married attractive women were happy to bask in the glory of their partner's beauty.

But Professor Jim McNulty reported: "Men who were more attractive than their partner demonstrated a tendency to offer less emotional and practical support to their wives."

He said "evolutionary perspectives" offered an explanation.

Strathclyde University psychologist Alastair Ross said many men enjoyed the prestige of having a beautiful wife.

"Men are rated as more likeable and friendly when they have a wife who is very attractive," he added.

(Agencies)

因为长相，他与美女明星西耶娜•米勒的结合可是引来了不少风凉话。

不过现在看来，瑞伊斯·伊凡斯可以笑到最后了，因为心理学家日前称，美女配丑男，婚姻会更幸福。

而嫁给“帅哥”的女性最好要提防着点。因为专家发现，认为自己的外表比妻子更具吸引力的男性容易对婚姻感到不满。

美国田纳西大学的这项研究或许还能为其他几对名人夫妇的结合提供解释，比如：凯瑟琳•泽塔-琼斯与迈克尔•道格拉斯，玛丽莲梦露与亚瑟•米勒。

田纳西大学的研究小组对82对新婚夫妇的外表吸引力和他们的婚姻质量进行了测试。

结果发现，“抱得美人归”的多数男士往往会沉醉于妻子的美貌给他们带来的那种“荣耀”中。研究结果在《家庭心理学》期刊上发表。

但吉姆•麦克纳尔蒂教授说：“如果男性的外表更具吸引力，那么他们给予妻子的情感和实际支持往往较少。”

他说，这可以从“进化论角度”进行解释。

斯特拉斯克莱德大学的心理学家阿尔斯达尔•罗丝说，很多男性觉得，有个漂亮的妻子让自己很有面子。

他说：“研究发现，抱得美人归的男性往往更可爱、更友好。”

(news from Chinadaily)