The Independent (U.K.) reports research which found that women find men more attractive if they know those men have already attracted female admirers/lovers. This is reported like it was some whole new discovery. It’s reflected in the oft-heard plaint, “All the good men are already taken.”
In fact, it is just another facet of something we already knew. Namely, that a person is more likely to be seen as a good candidate for a job (or, as it turns out, a relationship) if he or she is already employed. That has been known since I was an undergraduate, too many decades ago.
I had my nose rubbed in this truism right out of college, when I found it hard to land a relatively low-paying first job but almost ridiculously easy to land a second job with 25% higher pay a couple of months later. What was different the second time was that I was already employed and that fact made me appear more “employable” in the second employer’s eyes.
So, should we be surprised that women utilize similar logic in “hiring” a consort? Not really. It does suggest that instead of a male “wingman” a guy looking to hook up might be better off with a gal sidekick.
