Researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands explored how women perceive men who are fathers, focusing on how affectionate behavior toward children shapes attractiveness. The study appeared in the scientific journal Evolutionary Psychological Science (EPS).
The research highlights an underexplored facet of human appeal: the way a man’s warmth and care toward his offspring influence perceptions of his desirability as a long-term partner.
Rooted in evolutionary psychology, the work suggests that nurturing traits signal reliability, resource investment, and suitability for parenting—qualities highly valued in long-lasting relationships and family life.
The study involved 433 women who were 18 years or older. Participants completed two tasks designed to assess perceived attractiveness in men.
In the first task, participants viewed photographs of men either by themselves or interacting with a child. In the second task, they read passages describing men’s daily activities, including scenarios where the men did or did not care for children.
Each task presented 20 scenarios. Afterward, participants rated the attractiveness of the men on a scale from zero, meaning not at all attractive, to 100, signifying very attractive.
The findings showed that men depicted in interactions with children received higher attractiveness ratings than those shown alone. The boost was especially strong among women who expressed a higher motivation to care for children or who already had children or desired to have them someday.
The results also revealed that a woman’s menstrual cycle could influence attractiveness judgments. Specifically, during ovulation, men tended to be rated as more attractive overall, independent of grooming or child-care cues.
According to the study authors, these results shed light on the mechanisms guiding partner selection and the way caregiving behavior factors into mating preferences, offering a clearer view of the traits that influence attraction across populations.
Previous research in the field has examined a range of cues that influence perceived attractiveness, including voice timbre and emotional expressiveness in both men and women. This study adds to that literature by emphasizing caregiving behavior as a meaningful signal in partner choice.