Women who thought themselves as less attractive were more likely to think their partners didn’t like them as much, which made them less satisfied with their relationships and had lower sexual enjoyment. Both people in the couple filled out questionnaires about how happy they were with their bodies and how happy they were with their relationships. This projection bias seemed to show women being less satisfied with their relationships, but not men. Women who thought their partner didn’t like their bodies made their relationships less happy because they thought their partner didn’t like them, too. Instead, the level to which men found their partners attractive was the best predictor of how happy they were in their relationships.
In a second study, the author Allanah Hockey and her team researched 97 heterosexual couples who had been together for approximately four years. This time, the researchers took into account the weight of the people who took part in the study, because weight can have an effect on body image and happiness. The study looked at body mass index and sexual satisfaction as well as how people felt about their bodies.
Women who thought their partners were more attracted to them had a better relationship and sex life than women who thought their partners didn’t like them as much. Together, these findings suggest that women’s attraction to their partner may not be as important to their relationship and sexual satisfaction as how they feel about their own bodies, while for men, attraction to their partner is very important to relationship and sexual enjoyment. Similarly, women’s relationship satisfaction is linked to how much they think their partner likes them. This shows that women’s relationship quality may be linked to a focus on partner evaluations.
