Why you shouldn’t date a diva

Dating a bombshell comes with its own hazards. You may experience a sense of pride every time you take her out, but you can’t be sure how long will the relationship last, says a new research.

A relationship in which the woman is more attractive than the man may be doomed to failure, says a new research. However, having a handsome husband or boyfriend is no barrier to the couple’s success, according to the study.

A team from the Stirling, Chester and Liverpool University in the UK spotted the strange phenomenon while studying whether people tend to pair up with those who are similarly attractive to themselves.

The findings could help explain why Angelina Jolie’s marriages to actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton ended in just three years, while her relationship with Brad Pitt — one of the world’s most handsome celebrities — has already lasted six year. For the study, the researchers took photos of the men and women in more than 100 couples. Some had been together for just a few months, others for several years.

The individual men and women were then rated on their looks. Their analysis revealed that having an attractive husband or boyfriend was no barrier to a relationship succeeding. But, if the woman was extremely beautiful, the relationships tended to last only a matter of months, the researchers found.

Researcher Rob Burriss said: “Beautiful women may realise they can afford to pick and choose.” “Attractive women might generally prefer short-term relationships. They’re better placed to move on,” he added. It is also possible that the relationships end due to jealous behaviour from the woman’s less photogenic partner. Conversely, the less attractive women “may have to make do with what they have, hence the longer relationships”, noted Dr Burriss.

The study also found that people tend to pair up with those whose facial features have a similar level of symmetry — a sign of beauty — to our own. “These findings suggest our ideal partner is one on our own kind of level,” Dr Burriss concluded.

Psychiatrist Dr Samir Parikh, however, feels, “It’s like giving an exaggerated importance to looks. What makes or breaks a marriage is communication, sharing and understanding in a marriage. Looks always play a secondary role in a relationship,” he says, adding, “But it’s also true that pretty people do have a certain self image of themselves and want to match it up with their partner.” “A beautiful woman may reject an unattractive guy unless there are other qualities in him like intelligence or a great sense of humour,” says psychiatrist Dr Advesh Sharma.

-With inputs by Shara Ashraf