What a beard can tell you about a man’s marriage plans

Men may be more likely to grow a beard when they are ready to settle down, a study has found.

Beards require more care and attention than being clean-shaven, scientists say, and they believe men who are prepared to invest time, effort and money into growing facial hair are more likely to swap single life for domestic bliss.

A study led by the University of Padua in Italy asked more than 400 men aged between 18 and 40 about the motivation for having a beard, and found the willingness to groom a beard was linked to an individual’s social goals.

“Regarding fundamental social motives, men having more facial hair reported less mate-seeking motivation, but more mate-retention and kin care motivation,” they said.

“Having more facial hair may be used by men to inform other people that their social motives shift from focusing on the mating market to focusing on long-term romantic relationships and family.”

Men asked to rank life goals

Scientists asked men to rank in order of importance certain life goals, such as spending time with parents and staying in a long-term relationship.

“We detected that older men have more facial hair than younger men, which corresponds to previous studies showing that people perceive men with more facial hair as older,” the scientists added.

“As the first study on facial hair enhancement motivation in men, we found that facial hair may simultaneously signal higher competitiveness and higher willingness to form coalitions and to affiliate.”

Study co-author Professor Peter Jonason told The Times: “They are less likely to have a fast life history strategy and instead, tend to invest in others both romantically and familially.”

The study is published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.