Women really DO love bad boys! Ladies think men who take risks are more attractive – but only for short-term flings, study finds

From Mad Men’s Don Draper to Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass, some of TV’s most iconic characters are “bad boys.”

Now, a study has shown that it’s not just on screen, women also prefer bad boys in the real world.

Scientists from the University of Western Australia surveyed more than 1,300 women from 47 countries about their preferences for men.

The results showed that women prefer men who take risks, but only in short-term relationships.

“In long-term partnerships, the disadvantages of being attracted to habitual risk-takers are likely to become excessive, thus limiting attraction to risk-takers,” the team explained.

Now, a study shows that it’s not just about the screen (like Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl, pictured) — women also prefer bad boys in the real world.

Whether it’s gambling, heavy drinking, extreme sports, unprotected sex or drug use, previous studies have shown that men are more likely to take risks than women.

In their new study, the team set out to evaluate how women’s environmental, social, and economic contexts influence their preference for male risk-takers.

The researchers enrolled 1,304 women from 47 countries, aged between 18 and 40 years.

First, participants filled out a questionnaire about their age, gender, location, marital status, sexual orientation, household income, and health.

Next, the women were asked to rate how attractive they found the descriptions of different men, both in short- and long-term relationships.

The descriptions included details about the man’s risk-taking tendencies and occupation, such as: “Pete is a teacher.”

“In his spare time, he loves rock climbing and rappelling outdoors. He enjoys the adrenaline rush associated with these activities.

The results revealed that women who rated themselves as healthy and lived in countries with higher life expectancy found men who took high risks more attractive as short-term mates.

Women who rated themselves as healthy and lived in countries with higher life expectancy found men who took high risks more attractive as short-term mates.

“The reason health-related variables have a positive effect on risk-takers’ preferences may be that the security provided by better health and access to health care makes parental investment less important and allows women to show preferences in favor of males with behavioral cues that indicate heredity.” Quality (at the expense of investment),” the team led by Dr. Cyril Grutter wrote in their study, published in the journal Evolutionary psychology.

“A possible complementary explanation may be that women in healthier countries have more control over whether they become pregnant in a short-term relationship (through contraception and abortion) and are therefore able to choose a high-risk male partner.”

However, women who said they enjoyed risky activities, as well as bisexual women, were also found to rate men as higher risk-takers in both short- and long-term relationships.

“This may indicate that bisexual participants have less conservative perceptions of partner attractiveness, relationships, and male parental investment,” the team added.

The study comes shortly after research revealed that women particularly prefer muscular men when it comes to short-term relationships.

However, being funny can help men find a long-term relationship, as women love a good sense of humor – as long as he or someone else is not the victim of the joke.

The researchers recruited 384 women and asked them to imagine a man approaching them at a bar.

This man had a muscular torso, or was less muscular, in a digitally altered image shown to each volunteer.

Women who were shown the more powerful man rated him as more attractive for a short-term relationship than those who were shown the weedier version.