Men Say They Like Smart Women, But Science Says They’re Full of Sh*t

There’s an old joke that goes something like this: An employer interviewed three women for a job.  One had the best education.  Another had the best experience.  A third had the best references.  Which woman did the employer hire?

Answer: The one with the biggest tits. 

Of course, had that employer been an actual person and were asked who he would hire, he would have most likely said, “the woman with the best qualifications.”

Throughout history, men have been known to misrepresent themselves, when asked about women. This has included:

“Even though her family’s kingdom and mine could, together, conquer every other kingdom in Westeros, I’m marrying her because our personalities mesh.” 

“I know she’s 20 years younger than me, but I’m dating her because our personalities mesh.”

“My not asking her out a second time had nothing to do with her weight, adult acne, or the fact that she refused to sleep with me on the first date. It was because our personalities didn’t mesh.”

A new study has now dashed yet another area in which men misrepresent themselves, when dealing with women. Men always say they’re looking for an intelligent woman, someone who they can really talk to.  They even say that dating a woman who is more intelligent than they are would be perfectly fine and dandy.  It might even improve their vocabularies.

The jig is up, guys. According to a study in the November’s Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, they’re probably lying. When actually faced with a living, breathing, intelligent woman, they run for the hills. The study was carried out at several universities.

Within 30 seconds of the results of the research being announced, virtually every online magazine, social media outlet, and TV news and talk show jumped on the story. For those of you who have been living in the high-gluten section of the supermarket, and may have missed this, here are the highlights:

Researchers asked 105 men to read a hypothetical situation and state whether they found women desirable. The men voted in favor of women who scored higher than them in math or English tests. But, when the same men were told they would actually be meeting a woman who had done better than them on the test, they rated the woman as less attractive and showed less interest in making plans with her.

Worse, according to Huffington Post, “Men who were partnered with a woman who scored higher on the intelligence test felt the need to physically distance themselves from her when moving their chairs.” This may be the most damning statement of all. So, it’s not even enough to lose interest in an intelligent woman. Men have to increase the space bewteen themselves, and the superior brain cells that the woman posesses.

According to Mind, Body Green, who also provided the title to this post, “The study authors do caution that the sample size is pretty small, so the findings aren’t exactly conclusive, but note that “feelings of diminished masculinity accounted for men’s decreased attraction toward women who outperformed them.”

New York Magazine concludes, “Imaginary smart women for allegedly intelligent men: a perfect pairing.”