Nowadays, romantic choices are primarily based on money and not feelings and emotions, claims a new study.
Explaining the concept, Professor Darius Chan from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong said they wanted a better understanding of the psychological importance of money in the development of romantic relationships because very little is known about this subject.
Two experiments were performed on groups of Chinese college students already involved in heterosexual long-term relationships. The couple was made to think they were either wealthy or poor to examine their mating behavior.
In the first study, researchers found that wealthy men were less satisfied with their current partners' physical attractiveness and more interested in short-term relationships than those who were made to feel that they had less money.
However, the women, who felt wealthy, did not make higher demands regarding the men's physical appearance.
All wealthy participants in the second study found it easier to interact with an attractive member of the opposite sex than those belonging to a financially disadvantaged class.
Interestingly and as expected, more men than women from both wealthy and poor conditions selected a closer seat to the more attractive people.
The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
