It pays to be nice, no question about it. But it also means more sex. If you’ve ever needed reason to be kind, this is it.
Psychologists at the University of Guelph and Nipissing University have discovered that there’s a correlation between altruistic people and sexual frequency. Their study, which involved two experiments, revealed strong links been altruism and mating success.
In Study 1, participants who scored higher on a self-report altruism measure reported they were more desirable to the opposite sex, as well as reported having more sex partners, more casual sex partners, and having sex more often within relationships. Sex moderated some of these relationships such that altruism mattered more for men’s number of lifetime and casual sex partners.
“They tend to focus on personality instead. This means they have a wider pool of partners to choose to date and sleep with. They’ll have more sex quickly as they see it as a way to bond.,” dating coach James Preece told The Independent.
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Generosity is also very telling when it comes to the number of sexual conquests.
In Study 2, participants who were willing to donate potential monetary winnings (in a modified dictator dilemma) reported having more lifetime sex partners, more casual sex partners, and more sex partners over the past year. Men who were willing to donate also reported having more lifetime dating partners.
According to researchers, the results of the two studies suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and “support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.”
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In other words, says Preece, “People like people who like them, so if someone shows they care deeply about them they are more likely to be attracted.”
“Everyone wants to be liked,” he says, “and altruistic people are often more charming than their competition. That’s because they come across as more humble and less self-absorbed.”
