New study shows wealth shortens our relationships

[Photo: from VCG]

If you've ever wondered why the personal lives of the one percent are more varied and exciting than, well, yours, science now has an answer.

A new study published in the Evolution and Human Behavior journal found that wealth makes us favor shorter-term relationships and hook-ups, and the reason why is evolutionary.

To reach this conclusion, a research team led by Dr. Andrew Thomas from Swansea University in the United Kingdom, surveyed 151 heterosexual male and female participants on their preferences for hypothetical long-term and short-term relationships with pictures of 50 models, and were asked to rate whether they'd like to be involved with them in a short-term or long-term capacity, or not at all.

After submitting their answers, the subjects were then shown pictures that evoke wealth – for example, luxury vehicles, mansions and money, which made them assume that the environment in which they were able to 'choose' from these partners was an affluent one.

The participants were then asked to re-order their preferences for relationships with the models, and "after seeing the images of wealth, the subjects said that they preferred short-term relationships more than they did before seeing the pictures. In fact, the increase in preference for short-term coupling was of about 16 percent, according to Medical News Today.

Of this change in preference, lead author Dr. Thomas said: "After participants were given cues that the environment had lots of resources, they became more likely to select individuals for a short-term relationship.” 

[The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI] 

(News source: My body+soul)