Men who flaunt flashy cars not the 'marrying kind'

Researchers from Rice University, the University of Texas-San Antonio and the University of Minnesota found that men's conspicuous spending is often driven by the desire to have uncommitted romantic flings. They also pointed out that although flashy spending may get a woman's attention, she won't be picking out china patterns any time soon.
"This research suggests that conspicuous products, such as Porsches, can serve the same function for some men that large and brilliant feathers serve for peacocks," study author Jill Sundie, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas-San Antonio, said in a news release from Rice University.
Just as peacocks flaunt their brightly colored tails to attract potential mates, certain men show off flashy products to draw the attention of women, the study found. The researchers also indicated that the men who pursued this strategy were only interested in short-term sexual relationships.
In analyzing more than 1,000 men, researchers revealed that being in possession of a Porsche or another flashy luxury product did make a man more desirable to women than owning a nonluxury item, such as a Honda Civic. However, the attraction ended there.
While women who did find a man who drove a Porsche more attractive as a date, she did not find him more desirable as a marriage partner for a long-term committed relationship, the study authors said.
In fact, researchers found that women inferred from men's flashy spending that they were only interested in uncommitted sex.
"When women considered him for a long-term relationship, owning the sports car held no advantage relative to owning an economy car," study co-author Daniel Beal, an assistant professor of psychology at Rice University, said in the news release. "People may feel that owning flashy things makes them more attractive as a relationship partner, but in truth, many men might be sending women the wrong message."
The study authors suggested that when it comes to attracting potential dates, women do not share men's conspicuous spending habits.
"Obviously, women also spend plenty of money on expensive things," Sundie said. "But the anticipation of romance doesn't trigger flashy spending as it does with some men."

Are Flashy Spenders Looking for a Fling?

Flashy spending is one way that men signal they want to mate -- but not that they want to mate for life, a study shows.

"This research suggests that conspicuous products, such as Porsches, can serve the same function for some men that large and brilliant feathers serve for peacocks," study researcher Jill Sundie, PhD, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas, San Antonio, says in a news release.

The study is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The researchers surveyed nearly a thousand university students. Those students read romantic stories, spent fictional cash on a variety of flashy and not so flashy items, and judged people's attractiveness based in part on the possessions they owned.

The study found that men who are interested in short-term mating -- think one-night stands -- are more likely to spend money on flashy products meant to broadcast their desire. And it apparently works. Such men are seen as more attractive, but only by women who are likewise only looking for a short-term sexual relationship.

"Although showy spending is often perceived as wasteful, frivolous, and even narcissistic, an evolutionary perspective suggests that blatant displays of resources may serve an important function, namely, as a communication strategy designed to gain reproductive rewards," the researchers write in the study.

Sending the Wrong Signal

Of course, not all women are drawn to conspicuous consumption.

"People may feel that owning flashy things makes them more attractive as a relationship partner, but in truth, many men might be sending women the wrong message," co-researcher David Beal, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Rice University in Houston, says in the news release.

Not all men choose to send the same message. According to the study, those who were looking for long-term relationships with a woman were not likely to spend money on showy products. Instead, they spent their money on things like toaster ovens and budget-priced jeans rather than on designer sunglasses and expensive stereos.

But there will always be men willing to fork over real money to impress the ladies.

"Just as peacocks have evolved to flaunt their wasteful tails before potential mates," the researchers write, "men might similarly woo with wasteful expenditures to charm potential mates."

Meek men the perfect mate in austere times

The Global Financial Crisis may have sent the markets plummeting, but the stakes of the world's milder males should have skyrocketed, according to new research.

In today's edition of the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, University of Queensland researchers Anthony Lee and Dr Brendan Zietsch show environmental factors can influence a woman's choice of a mate.

They find that when faced with the threat of increased prevalence of disease, women choose more masculine males. But during times of resource scarcity, "feminine" males, who are more committed to long-term relationships and caring for resulting offspring, come to the fore.

Lee, a postgraduate student in the Univeristy's School of Psychology, says the research builds on cross-cultural studies that show women in countries with a higher prevalence of disease are more likely to prefer males with strong masculine features.

"Masculine males have increased testosterone and robust immune systems," he says. "This indicates if you mate with a masculine male they can pass on their increased immunity to a child."

Lee says the preference for more masculine partners has a trade-off.

"The problem with choosing a more masculine male is that increased testosterone is also associated with traits linked to being a bad parent," he says. These include a preference for short-term relationships and low faithfulness.

Buying a mate
Lee says the cross-cultural studies were limited in their findings as they failed to show the mechanisms underpinning the effect.

"Differences in income, inequality and violence vary with pathogen prevalence and could underlie regional variation in mate preference," the researchers write.

To test whether mate preference was flexible and changed with environment, the researchers asked 60 women to "buy" a mate.

The participants were divided into three groups. One was reminded of the threat of disease, the second of concerns over finances and food, while the third was used as a control group.

After completing a series of questions the participants were given a list of 10 traits, five of each related to good genetic and parenting qualities.

The women were given "25 mate dollars" and asked to spend the money buying their ideal partner.

Those women who had a heightened awareness of financial or resource scarcity preferred men with so-called "good-dad" traits, while those facing an increased disease threat chose men with "good-gene" traits.

Best package to suit their situation
Lee says the flexibility in women's mate preferences shows women do choose mates that will maximise their own or their offspring's survival in any given environment.

"They want to pick the best package to suit their situation," says Lee.

"This is evolutionarily advantageous over a fixed set of preferences as women would be able to adapt their preferences to rapid changes in environment such as a pathogen outbreak or a famine."

Lee says the study cannot predict how women faced with both a high disease risk and resource scarcity would behave.

"However, I would think that women have the ability to perceive and take into account varying levels of both when facing the trade-off between genetic and parental qualities," he says.

But Lee warns there are many factors that influence this trade-off and the "effect of the environment is just one piece of the puzzle".

As for males, it seems any woman will do, says Lee.

"For women, producing an offspring requires at least nine months of gestation, and even more time and resources raising the child through infancy," he says.

"Since men can invest relatively less in producing an offspring, it can be evolutionarily advantageous for men not to be as choosy as women."

Porsche drivers get the girls, but don’t keep them long term

Driving a Porsche increases your chances of having a short-term sexual relationship with a woman but is likely to have a negative impact if you are looking for something more serious.



That’s the official word from a joint study by three universities in the US, which involved nearly 1000 test subjects, analysing women’s attitudes towards flashy purchases.

Lead author of the report and assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas San Antonio, Jill Sundie, said men who were interested in short-term sexual relationships with women would often flaunt flashy products to charm potential mates.

“This research suggests that conspicuous products, such as Porsches, can serve the same function for some men that large and brilliant feathers serve for peacocks,” Ms Sundie said.

The researchers said women found a man who purchased flashy items (like a Porsche) more desirable than the same man who purchased non-luxury items (like a Honda Civic).



However, while the Porsche owner was more desirable for a date, he was not a preferred marriage partner. Women inferred flashy purchases meant the man was primarily interested in uncommitted sex.

“When women considered him for a long-term relationship, owning the sports car held no advantage relative to owning an economy car,” said assistant professor of psychology at Rice University, Daniel Beal.

“People may feel that owning flashy things makes them more attractive as a relationship partner, but in truth, many men might be sending women the wrong message.”



On the flipside, the researchers found that women don’t behave in the same manner and don’t make obvious purchases with the intention of attracting men.

“Obviously, women also spend plenty of money on expensive things,” Ms Sundie said. “But the anticipation of romance doesn’t trigger flashy spending as it does with some men.”

What do you make of the report? Guys: Is a Porsche the ultimate car if you’re after a quick fling? And girls: Are Porsche drivers really only after one thing?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.