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Why your lover thinks you're better looking than you actually are
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE - More by this author » Last updated at 08:26am on 14th May 2008
Comments Comments (12)
You may not look like George Clooney or Scarlett Johansson. But don't despair.
Your true love will think you are the most gorgeous thing they have ever set their eyes on.
Scientists have shown that most of us believe our partners are far better looking than they actually are.
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Scarlett Johansson and George Clooney: Even if you aren't blessed with their good looks, there is apparently no need to despair
In a study to show beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, researchers asked 93 couples to rate their own and their partners' attractiveness.
They found the scores men gave their girlfriends and wives were much higher than the scores the women gave themselves.
The same was true for the women. They rated their husbands and boyfriends as much better looking than the men regarded themselves.
The couples had been together for an average of 14 years and were typically in their late 30s.
The researchers at Groningen University in the Netherlands believe that the volunteers were more self-critical than they needed to be.
"This assumption is consistent with a broader line of research that shows that individuals tend to overestimate the extent to which members of the opposite sex value certain physical attributes," they said in a report for the journal Body Image.
"Whereas women typically believe that men prefer a female shape thinner and larger busted than men actually prefer, men falsely assume that women prefer a heavier, more muscular and larger chested male physique than women actually want.
"Realising that one's partner holds a relatively positive view about one's body may alleviate some body-image concerns as well as the negative consequences that these concerns may have on the relationship," the report said.
Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at Hertfordshire University, said: 'Most people are optimists - they have a notion that the world is much rosier than it is.
"They like to think they have an attractive partner because it makes them feel better."
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12 people have commented on this story so far. Tell us what you think below.
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Damn it! You mean I don't look like J-Lo's twin?
- Claire, Nantwich
Most people would always underestimate their attractiveness, so I think this study is already flawed.
Maybe all it shows is that people are self-conscious and that their partners are honest?
A better way would be to get a boyfriend/husband to rate his partner, then ask single men to rate her. This would show if the boyfriend/husband thought she was better looking than the others.
- Lucy, Jersey, Channel Islands
It's because we see past the surface to the inner beauty in our partner/lover.
- Raj, Pontefractish
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