It's frustrating for us regular joe schmoes, but...it's just science.
Justin Lehmiller , Ph.D., author of and sexual health and wellness advisor to , recently reviewed the scientific research on whether attractive people have more sexual partners. In , he detailed three different studies, all of which pointed to the same conclusion: The really, really, ridiculously good-looking population really does sleep with more people. (That doesn't necessarily mean they're having more sexit just means their body count, so to speak, is higher.)
According to evolutionary science, there's a reason why "attractive" people would have more sexual partners. (I put "attractive" in quotes, because what's attractive to one person isn't necessarily what's attractive to another person.) Nevertheless, according to evolutionary psychologists, the physical features men are drawn to in women are supposed to be indicators of health and fertility, whereas the physical features women find attractive in men supposedly provide an indication of whether a man is able to provide resources, like food and shelter.
Evolutionary psychologists often argue that the traits we tend to find attractive in others have some adaptive value in the sense that they serve as cues of reproductive potential and success, Lehmiller explains. In women, these traits include things like , and in men, they include things like . So too, is supposedly a proxy of better health. If we evolved to be attracted to these traits, it would logically seem to follow that the people who possess them would likely have more partners simply because theyre more desired and, therefore, have more opportunities to have sex.
The Lehmiller reviewed found that both facial and body attractiveness were associated with having a higher number of short-term sexual partners (but not long-term partners) for men. For women, facial (but not body) attractiveness was associated with having more long-term partners but not short-term partners.
That was the only study Lehmiller reviewed that categorized sexual partners as short-term and long-term. The other studies just looked at overall number of partners. found that physical attractiveness was associated with having more partners in general.
found that women deemed highly attractive and unattractive by male study participants had the most sexual partnersmeaning that women of average attractiveness had the fewest number of partners. (The women's level of attractiveness was measured by a group of men who participated in the study, which obviously, is very subjective.)
While less-attractive women might have fewer opportunities to have sex than their highly attractive counterparts, they may be more likely to agree to sex when the opportunity arises, Lehmiller theorizes. This may be because they dont feel as though they can be quite as selective, or it may be that they are seeking a self-esteem boost through sex. He clarifies that this is all speculative, and further research would need to be conducted to support his hypotheses.
So yeah, in general, conventionally attractive folks do have a higher number of sexual partners, according to science. That said, it's necessary to keep in mind that beauty is subjective.
Attraction and beauty are in the eye of the beholder, so that raises the question of who is making the attractiveness ratings in these studies, Lehmiller says.