Forget the rom-coms — scientists say nice guys do finish last

Article here. Excerpt:

'But while nice guys win hearts on the silver screen, a study suggests they may struggle in the unforgiving arena of real dating.

The findings, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, indicate that personality traits are linked to relationship success in markedly different ways for men and women.

The authors sent questionnaires to 3,800 adults in Australia, Denmark and Sweden to assess their personalities. They were asked whether they were in a relationship and, if so, how satisfied they were with it.

When it came to kindness, there was a divide between the sexes. Women who were more “agreeable” — meaning empathetic, co-operative and patient — were no more likely to be in a relationship than women in whom these qualities were less pronounced.

For men, though, agreeableness seemed to work against them. The correlation between kindness and being in a relationship was weak but slightly negative. In other words: the nicer he was, the less likely he was to have a partner.

The researchers also found that men who were more outgoing, confident and sociable were significantly more likely to be in a relationship, compared with less extroverted men.'