Relationships

The Shape Of A Guy’s Face Could Determine How Much He Prefers To Keep Things “Casual”

by Candice Jalili
Stocksy/Kristine Weilert

So you matched with this person on Bumble, and the two of you are VIBING. The conversation is flowing, you already have too many inside jokes to count, and you have to suppress the urge to cartwheel across the room every time their name pops up on your phone screen. The two of you finally go on a date, and things are even BETTER than they were before. The conversation is lasting for hours, and you hope the night never ends. But alas, it does end, and you're left wondering, "Do they want a relationship or a hookup?"

It's not that you even wanted a relationship before. You were just casually dating around! But now, to you, this person is no joke. They're the real deal, and you don't see this as something casual. But still, you wonder if they feel the same way about you. You could, of course, be upfront and just ask them, but you might feel like it's too early to drop such a big question, and you don't want to come on too strong. However, the alternative leaves you waiting around, falling harder and harder for this person, only to find out they never wanted anything serious anyway.

Well, a new study by researchers at Nipissing University in Canada found an alternative way that could help you find out whether or not the person you're seeing wants something serious — one that doesn't involve asking them right off the bat or waiting around for them to tell you.

Apparently, it all comes down to face shape.

The study, published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, looked into how a person's face shape correlated to their likelihood to commit to another person in a romantic relationship.

To explore this, researchers recruited 145 undergrad students who were already in relationships and surveyed them about their sex drives and their love lives. Also, the researchers used pictures to take note of the students' face shapes. And that wasn't it! After that round, 314 students answered more questions for the researchers about how they felt regarding things related to sex and relationships, like casual hookups and cheating.

I'll admit, the premise of the study did seem a bit strange to me, but the researchers actually ended up finding a strong correlation between sex drive and face shape in both men and women.

So which face shapes are willing to commit and which aren't?

Returning to my earlier Bumble example, think about what your match's face looked like. Well, let me be more specific here. What was your match's face shaped like? Was it more narrow? Or was it on the wider side? Why the eff does that matter? Let me break it down for you here.

So apparently, the study found a pretty solid correlation between girls and guys with wider faces and having higher libidos. Now, this obviously doesn't mean that all of these people are just looking for a hookup all the time. It just means that it's likely they're going to be down to get down, IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

Meanwhile, the study found guys with particularly wide faces might bring about a little more cause for concern, if you're definitely looking for someone to commit to you, that is. What's concerning about dudes with wide faces? Well, according to the study, they weren't only more likely to have higher libidos, but they were also more likely to be down for casual sex without any strings attached.

This definitely isn't a PSA against all wide-faced dudes out there. Of course, you should pay attention to their actions and words when you're really trying to determine what they want in a relationship. Still, go to your next date with this in mind, and see if this correlation sticks.

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