Macken
@MackenMurphy • 25,548 subscribers
Chief Scientist of QOVES. Oxford grad. "Murphy is able to condense vast chunks of information into engaging and digestible episodes." — The New York Times
Videos
Saw a trend where women were joking about how blond guys give them the ick. E.g., "How are you, as a man, blond?" Some evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that this aversion is natural, as darker hair is (to some extent) associated with maturity and masculinity.
Macken380,685 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten
Do women care more about a man's face or his height? In experiments, it's not close. Photo attractiveness is ~12x more important than height on a dating app (Witmer et al., 2025), and facial attractiveness is ~3x more important on a speed date (Asendorpf et al., 2005).
Macken102,580 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
How does exclusive homosexuality persist, despite evolution? An evolutionary biology professor of mine during undergrad suggested that a hint might be found in the cultural trope of the "rich gay uncle." It's true that gay men tend to have somewhat more financial success than straight men, and it's also true that gay men tend to have more brothers (i.e., gay men are actually more likely to become rich uncles). Further, since the 1970s, evolutionary biologists have hypothesized that maybe homosexuality could persist via kin selection: instead of investing in a child with 50% of your genes, you invest more in your siblings' children, who have 25% of your genes. So, perhaps, in some cases, men might benefit from forgoing their own reproduction and obtaining resources to maximize investment in nieces and nephews. An unusual strategy sure, but, in principle, feasible...
Macken347,295 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten
I suspect a lot of modern mating anxiety is downstream of this fact: generally, men lower their standards for casual mating, but women do not. This leads to men worrying about their partner’s past hookups (“was he hotter?”) and women wondering why men have “commitment issues.”
Macken236,315 Aufrufe • vor 11 Monaten
On TikTok you see a lot of women talking about how they want to date "medium ugly" or "ugly-hot" guys; basically, guys who look good, but not *too* good. Initially, I thought this was sour grapes. But maybe it's strategic; really hot guys come with real costs. Thoughts?
Macken93,858 Aufrufe • vor 11 Monaten
Some men on here warn attractive women that they shouldn't sleep around because "no guy will marry them" afterwards. Now, I think "don't sleep around" is good advice, but this is likely an empty threat. Attractive women are inundated with suitors regardless of such factors.
Macken67,289 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten
Big myth on here that men of all ages want to date women in their 20s. Sure, from a physical attractiveness perspective, men find women in their 20s most attractive. But overall, most men aren't so shallow as to care only about physical traits. They want compatibility, too.
Macken57,215 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr
Study of 93,158 people from 93 countries finds right-wing people spend more time on their looks than left-wing people. Unsurprising to find this about right-wing women (i.e., conforming to gender norms). But it's fascinating that right-wing men spend more time in the mirror.
Macken44,747 Aufrufe • vor 11 Monaten
