By Krissy Dolor
Forbes may be a money magazine, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t love celebrities, too! Last week, the magazine reported on a recent study conducted by the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland, which found that as women earn money and financial independence, their attraction to good-looking, older men increases. In addition, these women hold a man’s looks to a higher standard. The university has dubbed this “The George Clooney effect.”
Previous studies have found that women care more about whether or not a man can provide for them, while men were more attracted to lookers. This new study showed that when a woman’s income increases, her taste in men change.
“We’d assumed that as women earn more, their partner preferences would actually become more like those of men, with a tendency towards preferring younger, more attractive partners rather than those who can provide and care for children,” said lead researcher Dr. Fhionna Moore, a psychology lecturer at the University of Abertay Dundee. “However, the preferred age difference did not change as we’d expected – more financially independent women actually preferred even older men. We think this suggests greater financial independence gives women more confidence in partner choices, and attracts them to powerful, attractive older men.”
Forbes analyzed 12 celebrity couples, posing this question: What is each woman in the celebrity couple attracted to? They say that Angelina Jolie, as one of the highest-earning women in Hollywood ($20 million), wants a hot, older man. Hubby Brad Pitt is 12 years older than the starlet. Think Demi Moore’s marriage to Ashton Kutcher is part of the cougar effect? Think again. She told Harper’s Bazaar she does not like the term – and Kutcher’s Twitter presence seems to garner enough fame on its own. We can even look at Ellen DeGeneres, who earned $55 million last year, and is married to Portia De Rossi – a woman 15 years her junior.
In addition to the UK study, lead researcher at dating site eHarmony, Gian Gonzaga, said in the Forbes article that high-earning women are attracted to successful men who have established careers – and typically, these men are older. “In the data I’ve seen, women always want higher earning men,” said Gonzaga. He also said, “the Cougar thing is likely a myth.”
Well, there you have it: money only begets more money. If only there were a slew of George Clooney and Brad Pitt look-alikes up for grabs…
