Women like to 'poach' attached men
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A scientific study has found evidence that women really do have a preference for men who are attached
It's something that wives and girlfriends have long suspected – that women like to target men who are already in relationships.
Now a scientific study has found evidence that their fears are well founded, and that women really do have a preference for men who are attached.
In a phenomenon known as 'mate poaching' – but soon to be dubbed the 'Angelina Jolie effect' – women expressed a clear preference for those who were unavailable.
In the study by researchers at Oklahoma State University in the US, participants were shown a picture of a moderately attractive man or woman. Half were told the prospective mate was single and the other half were told that they were not.
Researchers Dr Melissa Burkley and Jessica Parker found that 90pc of women questioned were interested in a man when told he was in a relationship, compared to 59pc when told the same man was single.
Writing in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, they concluded: "This finding indicates that single women are considerably more interested in pursuing a man who is less available to them."
They postulated: "This may be because a man who is attached has already shown his ability to commit and, in a sense, has been pre-screened by another woman."
The science is borne out by Angelina Jolie, the actress.
She provoked scorn and admiration in equal measure when she poached Brad Pitt from 'Friends' actress Jennifer Aniston, to whom he was married at the time. Jolie and Pitt have always insisted they did not actually start a relationship until the marriage had broken down.
Men, on the other hand, expressed no preference in the study about whether a woman was in a relationship or not: "The results showed that only single women were more interested in pursuing an attached target rather than a single target."
© Telegraph.co.uk
- Stephen Adams
