>Sex Differences in Perceptions of Male Hobbies As Attractive

>The take-home from this chart is that women perceive many hobbies as more attractive than men think that women do. There are only two exceptions where men over-perceived women’s attraction to male hobbies: riding motorcycles and boxing/MMA.

>There is a debate in evolutionary psychology over traits like behavioral aggression, dominance, and physical robustness: are these attractive to women (and sexually selected for) or were they selected for via male-male contest competitions (physical fights).

>What we see here may be men overestimating how attractive women find hobbies that are essentially attractive to men. Riding motorcycles and fighting are associated with a certain image that signals dominance and status in male intrasexual competition. Men may overperceive how attractive these are to women.

>These more perceived “bad boy” hobbies may be more of a signal to other men whereas, although women do prefer a man who can defend them, they also desire a soft side. This may also reflect a desire for men who have hobbies that women can share with them.

>The chart above shows the hobbies that men and women agreed upon most: men’s most accurate predictions of hobbies that women find attractive.