Why Are Women Attracted to Bad Boys? Researchers Say They Know Why

According to the research, it is not men, but the ladies who are picking the wrong men, or the men that they rather let jump into their dating net.

So to be blunt, if your friends say that you really have a knack for choosing the bad boys, then they might actually be right. The characteristics of most bad boys are present in almost every other male.

In their research, Psychology Today reported that more men than women possess the Dark Triad personality trait. Dark Triad personality traits include narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism.

Narcissism is the short term mating style that men have recently taken up. It is the willingness and the ability to compete with one's own sex, and then to repel their mates shortly after intercourse.

The psychopathic personality is what makes them have an irresistible charm. It is that utter lack of empathy or remorse after their failed relationship or a hurtful one night stand. Women are attracted to that because that makes them feel that the man is self-confident.

Machiavellianism is the art of manipulation that almost every other man possesses. Women love manipulation (in their twenties of course0 because it gives them that extra spice in the relationship that other guys simply cannot provide them with.

This definitely defies what every woman is looking for in a man while dating. But this begs the question - why do women keep these men around who are certainly not in the mental state to provide them with what they want?

The answer is provided by Gregory Louis Carter of the University of Durham.

Carter investigated this question using 128 female undergraduates.

There were two groups of men - the one with the Dark Triad personality traits, and the other whom we might consider the good guys. Carter found that the group with the Dark Triad personality traits were more attractive to the females than the other group.

Why is that?

Carter explains that it might be because most men already possess the Dark Triad personality traits which might make the women inherently attracted to them for mating reasons.