Plain girls target handsome men

Why beautiful women don't mind ugly boyfriends

Beautiful women are happy to date ugly boyfriends because, subconsciously, they believe they'll still have good-looking babies, claim scientists.

However, less attractive women deliberately seek handsome partners to give their offspring a head start in the looks department.

The new findings go against long-held beliefs that attractive people are only attracted to members of the opposite sex who are similarly good-looking.

The study, which took place in Poland, judged attractiveness in women on their hip-to-waist ratio (a moderate ratio being deemed most alluring).

'It can be hypothesized that women with higher waist-to-hip ratio, ie less attractive ones, may more intensively "hunt for genes" related to attractiveness to increase their offspring's chance to be more attractive and to have a greater chance of reproductive success,' said the researchers.