Women happy with 5 out of 10 man – he’s less likely to stray

WOMEN would rather have an average-looking partner than a 10 out of 10 man as he would likely be pursued by other girls, a survey has revealed.

Just 7 per cent of women said their ideal partner would be a “perfect 10”, while 26 per cent said their lover would score a five on the attractiveness scale, the most popular choice.

Research by Yougov, the polling company, found that men were more likely to think that being physically attractive was an important quality in a partner, with the largest group, 22 per cent, saying their ideal mate would score eight and 15 per cent saying they would prefer a partner who was a 10.

Experts said women were more likely to be worried about their partner attracting attention if they were particularly good-looking. Lucy Beresford, the sex and relationships expert for radio station LBC, said: “For men, it’s more that the person they’re with in a way reflects on their own attractiveness. If they had a partner who was attractive that’s more because men almost want to see the person as a trophy, they want to feel that people are looking at them and thinking ‘wow, he must be really cool to attract someone so attractive’.

“For women, physical attractiveness is not the only deal, there’s also a slight anxiety that if your male partner is unbelievably good looking, you’d have to deal with loads of other woman coming on to him.”

Across both genders, five, seven and eight out of 10 were the most popular choices. The more favourably someone rated themselves, the more likely they were to say they would want a partner who was higher up the scale.

Susan Quilliam, a dating expert, said: “Several pieces of research show that having a very attractive partner makes people feel a bit insecure – it’s understandable that people would think a very, very, very, attractive partner would be harder to keep hold of and harder to be around.”