'In It for Keeps': Men with Beards May Be More Stable Romantic Partners, Study Says

Facial hair may indicate someone’s romantic goals and priorities, a study says

Wondering if someone might make a good romantic partner? You may need to look no further than their facial hair.

Men with beards aren’t necessarily out looking for a new partner —just keeping the one they have, according to a study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, while clean-shaven men reported more "mate-seeking" motivation.

“Men having more facial hair reported less mate-seeking motivation, but more mate-retention and kin care motivation,” reported the study, which looked at 414 men, aged 18 to 40, and examined their “facial hair enhancement motivations.”

The findings: “Bearded men are in it for keeps,” study co-author Professor Peter Jonason, from Warsaw’sUniversity of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, said, according to The Times UK.

“They are less likely to have a fast life history strategy seeking numerous partners and instead, tend to invest in others both romantically and familially,” Jonason said, per the outlet.

The reasoning is based on the care required to maintain a well-groomed beard.

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“Beards, as opposed to say stubble, are difficult and time-consuming to grow. Men with full beards may signa -

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l their disciplined nature,” Jonason said.

Although “maintaining a clean-shaven face requires the effort of frequent facial hair removal,” the study says “more facial hair requires more effort to keep it clean … regular care of facial hair requires time, effort, and resources. Thus, facial hair enhancement motivation may be related to the desire to present oneself to other people as a resourceful and well-organized person.” 

The study stressed that facial hair maintenance was a key point, as “growing bushy, unhealthy-looking, or dispersed facial hair may discredit a man rather than give him an advantage.”

Beards as camouflage was accounted for — as the study pointed out that some men may grow beards to cover “physical inadequacies.”

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The authors claim the study is “the first study on facial hair enhancement motivation in men,” and say further research is needed to examine the spectrum of facial hair types, as this one only examined the impact of clean-shaven skin, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards.

But overall, the study found that “having more facial hair may be used by men to inform other people that their social motives shift from focusing on the mating market to focusing on long-term romantic relationships and family.”

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