Study reveals: Straight women look at beautiful women just as much as handsome men

A study from Utrecht University tracked the eye movements of 102 participants and found that women spend more time looking at attractive faces, regardless of their sexual orientation, while men focus only on attractive faces of the gender they are attracted to. Researchers suggest that for women, beauty may also serve as a basis for social comparison.

A new study from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, examined how men and women differ in the attention they pay to attractive faces. Researchers used eye-tracking cameras on 102 participants, who were asked to look at pairs of facial images with varying levels of attractiveness, of both men and women. The results showed that on first glance, there was no significant difference between the sexes, but given more time, women spent longer looking at attractive faces, whether of men or women, regardless of their sexual orientation. In contrast, men focused only on attractive faces of the gender they are sexually attracted to. Lead researcher Tom Roth explained that for women, attractive faces are simply pleasant to look at, while for men, sexual preference is the driving factor. Researchers suggest possible explanations, including that beauty in women may also serve as a basis for social comparison. The study also found that relationship status does not change this pattern.