Money Matters In Romance, Science Says

Who says money is not important when it comes to true love? Science actually back up the claim that money does! It's important for romantic relationships to work, even if this does not sound romantic. 

According to a new study published in "Frontiers in Psychology," people's romantic choices are not merely based on what they feel, as reported by Science Daily. Love at first sight? More likely love at the first sight of one's wallet.

The research group headed by Professor Darius Chan from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong claimed that the study was intended to give people a better understanding of why they more or less ended up in the relationship they are in. 

We wanted a better understanding of the psychological importance of money in the development of romantic relationships because very little is known about this subject. That way people would have a better perspective of the relationships they are in," explained Chan. 

Two experiments were performed on Chinese college students part of heterosexual long-term relationships. The couples were made to think they were either rich or poor. Their mating behaviors are then analyzed. 

Results of the first experiment showed that most of the wealthy men are unsatisfied with their current partners' physical attributes. They were also more interested in short-term relationships compared to the students put under the "poor' category. 

The opposite is true for women who are put under the "wealthy" category. They were the ones not demanding when it comes to men's physical appearance.

Results of the second experiment showed that wealthy participants find it easier to inexact with the opposite sex who is attractive. As expected, this holds more true for men than women. 

We remarked that wealthy men attach more importance to a mate's physical attractiveness setting higher standards and preferring to engage in short-term mating than those who have less money. However, for committed women, money may lead to less variation in their mating strategies because losing a long-term relationship generally has a higher reproductive cost," explained Chan.

The researchers concluded that humans adopt conditional mating strategies depending on their environmental conditions such as money possession. Love is clearly not just about feelings. But romantics should not lose hope just yet. A recent report by Stuff NZ is that science still cannot predict chemistry up to now. The show "Married at First Sight" proves that.