Science points to the simplest way to tell if a man will cheat

Immutable Law of Nature: It’s a world of confirmed creepos and hapless romantics just begging to be exploited by them. So how to whittle down your dating pool to those increasingly few specimen who might occasionally be equipped to treat you with basic human civility?

Well, you can’t. However, a study put together by a Canadian university has concluded that men with wider, shorter faces — or heads that are decidedly square-shaped — tend to be more sexually impulsive, with somewhat out-of-control sex drives.

Masterminded by Dr. Steven Arnocky, a specialist in natural selection who we’re imagining is looking askance at his significant other as we type this, the study took place at Nipissing University in Ontario and was published in respected stroke book Archives of Sexual Behavior. 

Related: Science identifies the types of men who are most likely to cheat on you

How about we take this to the next level?

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Science Daily reports:

The study adds to a growing body of research that has previously shown that certain psychological and behavioral traits are associated with particular facial width-to-height ratios (known as FWHR). Square-faced men [i.e. wider cheekbones and shorter distances between the brow and the upper lip] (who therefore have a high FWHR) tend to be perceived as more aggressive, more dominant, more unethical, and more attractive as short-term sexual partners than their thinner and longer-faced counterparts.

Researchers attributed differences in facial proportions to variations in testosterone levels during particular developmental periods, such as puberty. This hormone plays a role in forming adult sexual attitudes and desires.

In this paper, Arnocky and his colleagues report two separate studies conducted among students. In the first, 145 undergraduates who were in romantic relationships at the time completed questionnaires about their interpersonal behavior and sex drive. The researchers also used photographs of the participants to determine their facial width-to-height ratio. The second study involved 314 students and was an extended version of the first study, which included questions about participants’ sexual orientation, the chances of them considering infidelity, and their sociosexual orientation. The latter is a measure of how comfortable participants are with the concept of casual sex that does not include love or commitment.

As Towleroad reports, the study suggests some sort of correlation between facial ratios and sex drives:

According to Arnocky, their findings suggest that FWHR can be used to predict a measure of sexuality in both sexes. Men and women with a high FWHR (therefore, square and wide faces) reported a greater sex drive than others.

“Together, these findings suggest that facial characteristics might convey important information about human sexual motivations,” says Arnocky.

It was also found that men with a larger FWHR not only have a higher sex drive than others, but also are more easygoing when it comes to casual sex and would consider being unfaithful to their partners.

Even Arnocky knows more research is needed in the field before we jump to conclusions and never again sleep with men possessing conspicuously square-jawed, handsome features.

“You can’t walk down the street and see someone with a short, wide face and know with certainty about their sex drive,” he tells the New York Daily News. “The FWHR is not the end-all, be-all. There are social and cultural factors at play.”