Traditional beliefs can shift the link between beauty and women’s sexual openness, new research suggests

A new study has found that women who see themselves as physically attractive and who endorse more traditional moral beliefs may be less likely to pursue short-term sexual relationships — but this link appears to depend on their overall life strategy and upbringing. The research, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, draws on two major theoretical frameworks in psychology to explore how perceptions of one’s own attractiveness interact with moral values and reproductive goals.

The study was grounded in Life History Theory, which proposes that individuals vary in their long-term versus short-term reproductive strategies depending on how they allocate energy between self-maintenance and reproduction. People who follow slower strategies tend to invest more in health, education, and stable relationships, while faster strategies favor short-term mating and less parental investment.

The researchers also incorporated Moral Foundations Theory, which argues that people rely on several core moral intuitions, including care, fairness, loyalty, respect for authority, and purity. These intuitions are thought to be shaped by evolutionary pressures and social environments, and they influence behavior even when people are not consciously reflecting on moral decisions.

“I study intimate relationships in the evolutionary context—specifically, human reproductive strategies,” said study author Andrzej Łukasik of the University of Rzeszow. “Reproductive strategies are the ways in which men and women ‘acquire’ partners for relationships and then maintain those relationships. Broadly speaking, these strategies are divided into a fast strategy, characterized by the tendency to engage in numerous short-term relationships, and a slow strategy, which has the opposite characteristics.”

“Previous research has shown that, in women, physical attractiveness serves as a lure that facilitates the achievement of goals typical of the fast strategy. The inspiration for this study came from the question: Are women who follow a slow reproductive strategy also physically attractive—but in their case, beauty serves the preference for long-term relationships rather than short-term ones?”

The study involved 326 college-aged women from southeastern Poland, most of whom were education or nursing students. Participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring their life strategy, their self-perceived physical attractiveness, their endorsement of moral intuitions, and their sexual desire.

Physical attractiveness was assessed through self-evaluation of traits like fitness, weight satisfaction, and bodily appeal. Moral intuitions were measured using a standard questionnaire assessing the five core domains described by Moral Foundations Theory. Sociosexual desire was measured using items that reflect interest in uncommitted sexual activity, serving as an indicator of short-term versus long-term mating orientation.

The researchers then conducted a series of regression and mediation analyses to determine whether moral intuitions and self-perceived attractiveness mediated the relationship between life strategy and sociosexual desire. In other words, they examined whether women’s moral values and perceptions of their own physical attractiveness could help explain how their broader reproductive orientation—whether geared toward long-term caregiving or short-term mating—relates to their sexual interests and preferences.

Free daily newsletter

The researchers found that women who reported higher investment in long-term development and caregiving (a slow life history strategy) tended to score higher in self-perceived physical attractiveness. Those who saw themselves as more physically attractive were more likely to report stronger moral intuitions — particularly those tied to traditional values, such as purity and respect for authority.

Respect for authority emerged as a key factor: it was the only moral domain that significantly predicted lower sociosexual desire when included in the model. That is, women who viewed themselves as attractive and who also endorsed authority-based moral reasoning tended to report less interest in casual sex. A similar, though slightly weaker, relationship was observed for the purity domain.

Interestingly, self-perceived attractiveness on its own tended to predict higher sociosexual desire — consistent with earlier research linking physical appeal to less restricted mating behavior. But when combined with strong traditional moral intuitions, this relationship shifted, with physical attractiveness instead associated with more restricted sexual preferences.

“An unexpected finding was that women with a slow reproductive strategy who positively evaluate their own attractiveness still show a tendency to engage in short-term relationships—similarly to women who pursue a fast reproductive strategy,” Łukasik told PsyPost. “However, this tendency is modified by moral sensitivity aimed at preserving social order.”

The researchers suggest this shift may reflect a kind of internal brake, in which women who are physically attractive and have developed strong intuitive moral frameworks — particularly those rooted in traditional or conservative social norms — may channel their attractiveness in ways that align with long-term relational goals.

“The first important conclusion is that women who tend toward a slow reproductive strategy indeed rate themselves as more physically attractive,” Łukasik explained. “However, rather than weakening the tendency to engage in short-term relationships, attractiveness actually strengthens it.”

“The second key finding is that in the case of the women studied, their physical attractiveness is moderated by ‘an internal brake’ in the form of evolutionarily shaped moral intuitions. Moral intuitions allow for quick judgments about whether one’s own or another person’s behavior violates moral norms in certain domains—for example, loyalty or human welfare.

“This moral brake limits the use of physical beauty for short-term relationships and instead favors long-term bonding. However, not all moral intuitions play this role. The study revealed that the so-called binding moral intuitions, responsible for moral sensitivity focused on maintaining social order, cohesion, and hierarchy, serve this moderating function.

The effect of moral intuitions was especially strong among women from rural areas. Participants with a rural background showed a stronger correlation between traditional moral values and restricted sociosexual desire. Among these women, those with greater investment in long-term development were more likely to endorse binding moral values — especially respect for authority and purity — and these values were associated with lower interest in short-term sexual encounters.

This pattern appeared less consistent in women from more urban environments, suggesting that local culture and social norms may amplify or dampen the impact of individual traits like attractiveness or moral intuitions.

“It is important to emphasize that the results apply only to young women from a rural, conservative background,” Łukasik said. “Some data from the study suggest that things may be different in urban or metropolitan environments, particularly regarding the types of moral intuitions that act as a moral buffer.”

The researchers note that the rural participants in their study likely grew up in more conservative, religious environments, which may strengthen the influence of moral intuitions tied to social order and purity. Historical data from Poland supports this interpretation, as rural areas in the country have long featured traditional norms and limited access to modern healthcare, which may reinforce moral values that prioritize bodily sanctity and social cohesion.

The researchers also noted that their findings are limited to a specific demographic: young Polish women, most of whom were students from a relatively conservative region. Because many participants were still in early adulthood and had not yet started families, some standard indicators of life history strategy — such as age at first birth — could not be assessed.

Additionally, the study relied entirely on self-report measures, which can be influenced by social desirability or subjective biases. While the sample size was large enough to detect significant effects, further research across different cultures and age groups would be needed to assess whether the observed patterns generalize more broadly.

Future research may also investigate the role of different types of disgust, which have been linked to moral judgments and sexual behavior.

“I would like to explore the role of different types of disgust,” Łukasik explained. “Disgust is an important emotional response that automatically signals whether we can accept someone—for example, as a relationship partner—or whether we reject them. For instance, moral disgust allows for the decisive rejection of a person when their behavior is perceived as immoral, meaning it violates social norms such as honesty, fairness, or those related to sexual behavior.”

“Disgust is not a binary emotion (i.e., ‘I feel disgust – I don’t feel disgust’); it varies in intensity across individuals, which must be taken into account in research. Furthermore, different types of disgust are linked to biological morality and specific moral intuitions. Therefore, disgust and moral intuitions together may function as a moral switch, which in some individuals may trigger a tendency toward short-term relationships, and in others, the opposite.”

The study, “Self-Perceived Physical Attractiveness and Moral Intuitions as Mediators Between Somatic-Parental Effort and Mating Orientation,” was authored by Andrzej Łukasik and Anna Wołpiuk-Ochocińska.