A team of behavioural scientists at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, has found via survey results that people view men who drive luxurious cars as having a higher mating value and other positive attributes. In their study, reported in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the group conducted two surveys involving people driving expensive cars.
Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that men who drive expensive cars attract women looking for a partner who can provide them with a certain level of lifestyle. But such evidence has not been well tested in a more formal way. In this new effort, the research team sought to find out how both women and men really feel about men who drive top-of-the-line cars and how the owners of such cars feel about themselves. To that end, they sent out two surveys.
The first survey asked potential respondents about their opinions on luxury cars and the men who drive them, including their feelings on mating values and male dominance. The team received 171 responses, 93 from women. To prevent bias, the researchers used examples with fabricated people in the surveys. The second survey asked luxury car owner respondents questions regarding how they felt about themselves and their place in society and whether they thought they would make a better mate than someone who drove an ordinary car. The researchers received 409 responses, 206 of which were from women.
In analyzing the returned surveys, the research team found that the majority of respondents (both male and female) viewed men driving luxury vehicles as having higher mating value and social dominance and were often seen as more competent in their lives and in their jobs—and in some cases, as more intelligent. The survey results also showed that most respondents believed they would benefit from personal or intimate relationships with such men.
The researchers also found that people who drive luxury cars view themselves as having higher social status and thus believe they have more self-confidence than others. Most also rated themselves as having higher mating value.
