Who are women more likely to have a long-term relationship with? Would it be the man with a masculine face, or the guy with a less masculine-looking face and is less likely to cheat?

A recent study done by researchers at Durham University and the University of St. Andrews revealed that females find males whose faces have masculine qualities to be inapt long-term partners and males who have more feminine faces to be more apt and good partners.

Eric Cooper, associate professor of psychology, said the results of the survey are not surprising to him.

“In addition to what they’ve found in that study, we’ve also found that more masculine-appearing faces are considered more attractive as the female is close to ovulation,” Cooper said. “When she’s far from ovulation, more feminine faces are preferred.”

David Slykhuis, junior in kinesiology, had mixed thoughts on the study.

“I would say, knowing all my friends and their relationship status, it could go both ways,” Slykhuis said. “I have a lot of friends that are feminine and masculine [qualities] that are in relationships.”

Jordan Hager, senior in computer engineering, agreed with the study’s results.

“More feminine [males] are probably looking for long-term relationships and that’s why girls end up with them,” Hager said. “The more masculine men are trying to be the alpha male and don’t like to be in long-term relationships.”

Samantha Pedersen, freshmen in preprofessional health programs, said the findings of the study were unexpected to her.

“I would’ve thought masculine [males] would be more long-term,” Pedersen said.

Cooper said characteristics of more masculine male faces include deep-set eyes, square chins and big muscles in the cheeks, called masseter muscles, which correlate with big muscles in the rest of the body.

Cooper pointed out that celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Robert Redford have larger masseter muscles.

Tips Cooper offered for men to appear more masculine are to do “things that make one appear more masculine” and to try not to shave for a couple days, sporting a “couple days’ growth of a beard.”

“Attractiveness in males is going to vary with the amount of testosterone the male has,” Cooper said.

Because those with less masculine faces seem more nurturing to children, less likely to be violent and less likely to commit adultery, women prefer to have long-term relationships with them, Cooper said.

Cooper said the ideal is that the male has an optimal testosterone level between the two extremes.

Cooper said high-testosterone males have more short-term mating opportunities. However, he said, but low-testosterone males may be more successful in securing a marriage partner.

“I think [for] the guy at the bar who’s trying to go for a one-night stand, it’s better to be a high-masculine male than the low-masculine male in that circumstance,” Cooper said.

Physical features aren’t the only thing people look for in a mate, Cooper said, citing kindness and intelligence as important personality qualities.

“I don’t get the impression that people are aware of exactly what features they’re picking up on when they decide someone’s attractive or not,” Cooper said.

Cooper said he doesn’t feel the results of the study would be different if done again in the future.

“We have circuits in our brain for determining how attractive somebody is. That includes how symmetrical your face is,” Cooper said. “That’s the best predictor of how attractive you’re going to find somebody’s face.”

Even though you don’t realize it, your brain is computing how symmetrical a person’s face is and what it’s producing – that you’re aware of – is this feeling of whether the person is attractive or not, Cooper said.

“It’s neurocircuits that were determined by evolution, because animals that choose mates wisely reproduced more than animals that didn’t, and we’re just the product of those animals that were successful [at] reproducing,” Cooper said.

Nate Cash, freshman in liberal arts and sciences-open option, said he had seen similar studies in his Psychology 101 class last year.

“Research can sway numbers to show any result they want to,” Cash said. “I think it’s a matter of personal opinion.”