HoldsUp

Chris Williamson · 2026-08-06 · Chris Williamson (host), Macken Murphy, Steve Stewart-Williams, Rob Henderson

The New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

54 research-tied claims examined: 2 contradicted 2 overstated 5 context 26 supported 19 unverified

5

Needs context

1:15:52Rob Hendersonneeds contextlow

A study of college students found that Tinder users scored significantly higher on Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) than non-users, with effect sizes between d = 0.3 and 0.4.

"There was a study a few years ago on on Tinder users back when I think Tinder was still the number one dating app in the late 2010s and this was only on college students and they looked at students who uh had never used Tinder and students who were currently using Tinder and they they looked at the Dark Triad personality traits and found that the users of Tinder scored uh significantly higher uh pretty pretty sizable effect sizes .3, .4 uh higher for the Tinder users and the non-Tinder users." (said at 1:15:52)

Evidence on Tinder use and Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) indicates a positive association in several cross-sectional samples, particularly among male users and those seeking short-term casual encounters. A 2020 review noted that dark personality traits were more frequently reported among male Tinder users. However, findings across university cohorts are mixed and conditional: in a large sample of 1,705 university students, dark personality traits showed no independent predictive ability for dating app use after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and broad personality traits. Furthermore, all available evidence is cross-sectional and observational.

1:21:49Steve Stewart-Williamsneeds contextmoderate

In mate allocation research where individuals design their own profiles using a budget, men allocate more budget toward increasing their wealth and status relative to women, whereas women allocate more toward increasing their physical attractiveness relative to men.

"He also did a study where he had people allocate for themselves if I'm not mistaken. And it it mirrored the uh it mirrored that that same pattern where it's like when men were kind of RPG style building their own character... basically men tried to make themselves richer relative to women and women tried to make themselves prettier relative to men." (said at 1:21:49)

The mate budget allocation paradigm developed by Norman Li and colleagues investigates how individuals prioritize traits under constrained budgets when designing ideal romantic partners, rather than self-profiles. In these experiments, when allocating limited "mate dollars," men consistently allocate more budget toward a prospective partner's physical attractiveness, treating it as an economic necessity, whereas women allocate more budget toward a partner's social status and resources (PMID: 12051582, PMID: 31494937). While the speaker characterizes this sex-differentiated allocation pattern as individuals designing their own "RPG style" characters or self-profiles, the published mate-budget experiments demonstrate this trade-off in the selection and construction of prospective mates.

1:22:55Macken Murphyneeds contextlow

Historical research by Lynne Luciano documents that male beautification and grooming practices have increased steadily decade over decade since the 1990s.

"this is actually just the newest instantiation of a documented trend going back to the 1990s. You can read the historian Lynne Luciano's work on this, uh, where male beautification has increased decade on decade" (said at 1:22:55)

Historian Lynne Luciano's seminal work, 'Looking Good: Male Body Image in Modern America' (published in 2001), documented the historical emergence and acceleration of male body consciousness, grooming, cosmetic procedures, and physical self-presentation across the post-World War II era through the 1990s. While Luciano's research established that modern male beautification and appearance anxieties expanded significantly leading into the late 20th century, her 2001 book could not have documented trends occurring 'decade on decade' after the 1990s.

1:31:30Chris Williamson (host)needs contextmoderate

Hypermasculinized male faces are less attractive to women than average or slightly feminized male faces.

"that hypermasculinized face we know from tons and tons of data is not as attractive as a average or slightly feminized face on a man is to women." (said at 1:31:30)

Experimental facial morphing studies (notably Perrett et al., 1998) demonstrated that women often rate slightly feminized male faces as more attractive than hypermasculinized faces, partly because exaggerated masculine facial features are associated with negative attributions such as coldness and lower perceived parental investment. However, describing this as an absolute rule oversimplifies a complex and mixed literature: subsequent cross-cultural and ecological studies show that female preferences for facial masculinity vary substantially based on mating context (short-term vs. long-term), participant characteristics, and local socioeconomic or environmental conditions.

1:38:48Steve Stewart-Williamsneeds contexthigh

During heart attacks, chest and arm pain are less common in women than in men, while shortness of breath is more common in women.

"So the pain in the sort of chest and down the arms is quite well known. Um that's much less common in women. Uh shortness of breath is a much more common uh symptom in women." (said at 1:38:48)

The claim is partially accurate but requires important qualification. Chest pain remains the cardinal and most common symptom of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) in both women and men, experienced by the vast majority of female patients (over 80%). While meta-analyses and large registry studies (such as Canto et al., 2012, examining >1.1 million patients) demonstrate that women present without chest pain slightly more often than men (42.0% vs 30.7%), describing chest and arm pain as 'much less common in women' is misleading because chest pain is still by far their most frequent symptom. Additionally, studies report that arm pain occurs at similar or even slightly higher rates in women than in men. Conversely, the assertion that shortness of breath (dyspnea) is more common in women during a heart attack is well supported by observational registry data (e.g., OR 1.45).

Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.