Men With Full Beards Are Better Long-Term Relationship Material, Science Says

Well, it's official: Beards are IN. We can all go home now. Great work, Brooklyn.

A new study coming out of University of Queensland led by Barnaby Dixon found men with full-blown fur are more likely to be considered for long-term relationships or marriage than their baby-faced counterparts.

While we all agree sexiness can come in all shapes and sizes, there is something truly irresistible about scruff.

This study suggests by altering the natural face shape of a man, a beard can mask both femininity AND masculinity, landing hairy dudes in the magic zone on the attractive spectrum. Too much femininity or masculinity is found to be typically less attractive to women.

Also, large beards hide sharp jawlines, which, while they can induce feelings of sexual desire and spike a woman's libido, do not necessarily signal that a man is in it for the long haul. Traditionally, this kind of look is reserved for one-night stand fantasies realized, sexy rendezvous or Ian Somerhalder.

All of that being said, a heavy beard can signal dominance, triggering biological and deep-routed societal learnings that dominance = provider/protector, aka a HUBBY BOO.

Facial hair is also associated with maturity and testosterone, both of which can be desirable and attractive for a potential Mr. Forever.

Facial hair is associated with maturity and testosterone, both of which can be desirable and attractive.

In this study, 8,520 women were asked to rate men with varying degrees of stubble on a scale from zero to six on general attractiveness, and also on a relationship longevity spectrum.

Overwhelmingly, all of the women were more attracted to some sort of facial hair, placing those with the fullest of beards closer to marriage and those with lighter scruff in the hookup zone.

Of course, it should be mentioned this study was done on a group of predominantly European women, and does not take into consideration ladies from various geographical regions, nor does it include personal preference or evolving fashion variables.

One thing we can say for sure is, dudes, if you got it, flaunt it. (Within reason, of course.)