Men are threatened and intimidated by intelligent women says new study

[Tennis]

Men are threatened by intelligent women - or at least that’s what researchers discovered when they carried out several studies into what men find desirable.

The findings published in the November edition of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin concluded that while men like the idea of dating an intelligent woman, they don’t actually like the reality of it.

The study which was carried out by researchers at the University of Buffalo, California Lutheran University and University of Texas, Austin, took 105 men and read them a hypothetical scenario involving a woman who either outperformed or underperformed them in a Math or English course and then made to imagine them as a romantic partner.

Interestingly enough, the men ranked women who outperformed them as more desirable partners, with the study stating, “men formed favourable impressions and showed greater interest in women who displayed more (versus less) intelligence than themselves.”

However, when the men were asked whether they would be into dating such a woman in real life, their confidence seemed to crumble. Although the researchers are careful to point out that further investigation is still required, they do believe “feelings of diminished masculinity accounted for men’s decreased attraction toward women who outperformed them.”

Ahem.

So, what does this say about today’s men? To get some answers, I turned to a handful of experts to get their take.

Joshua Pompey, an online dating expert who has been successfully helping men and women find love since 2009, says this is a complex question that will certainly vary amongst men of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures.

“The degree to which a man values an intelligent woman is more often a reflection of one’s own self,” says Pompey. “Men who feel a need to control and dominate a relationship, or those who have strong insecurities in other areas, will likely have a harder time with a woman who rivals or dominates their own intelligence.”

Michelle Jacoby, owner of DC Matchmaking and Coaching echoes Pompey’s professional opinion. “Men who are intimidated by intelligent women often have negative self-images and low self-esteem. They measure themselves against others and often feel inadequate or competitive,” she says. “These are the types of men that women should be avoiding.”

When I spoke to a handful of confident, intelligent men in my social circle, they shared a similar sentiment: That it all comes down to how the guy feels about himself. As Justin in Toronto points out, “It isn't really about her intelligence, it's about his ego. If he's got enough confidence in himself, his partner's intelligence isn't going to negatively impact the relationship.” As Hudson in California says, “My longest term relationships have had MBAs and PhDs. Like a zombie, I like brains!”

However, when it comes to men who are intimidated by their intelligence, the problem is very real for many women. JoEllen Notte, a sex educator, writer and author of the popular blog The Redhead Bedhead, says that she often encounters guys who are both turned on and intimidated by her intelligence, but she’s careful to point out that issue is more nuanced than we might expect. This has “happened even with the awesome, sex-positive, feminist guys. In their cases it's more of a thing where they have a hard time believing I like them rather than the kind of #masculinitysofragile nonsense that I have also run into in the face of intimidation.”

With that said, Notte says, “The flip side is the guy who I dated who told everyone who would listen that I was a brilliant writer and then spent most of his time cutting me down and making me feel stupid.”

So, how should we combat this kind of dating malarkey? If you’re looking for a happy, healthy, sustainable relationship, Jacoby says it’s important that you find a partner with high self-esteem. “My advice to smart single ladies? Go find a emotionally healthy man with high self-esteem,” she says. “He'll most likely be a sapiophile (someone who finds intelligence the most sexually attractive feature), and you'll be good to go!”

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/10/30/ar...something-else

Hopefully these tips are helpful for some of you men out there. Don't be intimidated.
Also some advice for the ladies.

[Deleted]

Tennisace is threatened by people jacking off to drawings says witnesses.

Also sample size of 105 from a few towns?

[THE Bigzoman]

Women are intimidated by guys who show "nicer" traits on average.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

105 men definitely speak for all the male gender.

[Azadina]

105 men definitely speak for all the male gender.

1 man speaks for entire male gender: Tennisace

[Nelaphim-EX]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex...rter-wife.html

http://www.cnet.com/news/why-your-wi...rter-than-you/

Lots of other articles/studies disagree with yours.

[Tennis]

1 man speaks for entire male gender: Tennisace

Not in all cases.
Us real men are drawn to intelligent women.

[twiddler]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex...rter-wife.html

http://www.cnet.com/news/why-your-wi...rter-than-you/

Lots of other articles/studies disagree with yours.

Wow. We might have a difference due to nationality and culture.

[THE Bigzoman]

Most women that spout the "He's intimidated by my intelligence" are hiding behind the fact that they're landwhales and other unpleasant things about them.


It's rationaization at it's best; it's deflection.

[Lady Dragonheart]

I don't think that it's a matter of gender. People are intimidated by other people with considerably higher intelligence, period. Gender has really nothing to do with it.

[KrazyK923]

Before clicking on the thread: "I'd bet anything this is a Tennisace thread."

Yup.

Men are always terrible. That narrative is boring at this point. They need to give us something else to apparently feel bad about. Our penises aren't good enough anymore.

[Lady Dragonheart]

1 man speaks for entire male gender: Tennisace

I feel bad for the male gender, if that's the case.

[hrugner]

This is awesome "I just find her intimidating" was my go to excuse when a friend of a girl would ask why I wasn't interested. It was the only fool proof way of getting rid of them forever.

[Azadina]

I feel bad for the male gender, if that's the case.

I would too I see you haven't disagreed with him enough my dear. Don't see you put onto his "fanclub" on his sig like me and Heather ^^

[l0nglive]

No worries guys, intelligent women are so few.

[THE Bigzoman]

Before clicking on the thread: "I'd bet anything this is a Tennisace thread."

Yup.

Men are always terrible. That narrative is boring at this point. They need to give us something else to apparently feel bad about. Our penises aren't good enough anymore.

It's not even that, it's socially acceptable rationale for what is people's own shortcomings at times. "Nobody wants to date me, must be because of my intellifence"

My roomates exe used to say this about guys all the time. She happend to be one of those girls that play COD all day without taking care of herself. She had a chico mustache too.

But no darling, it's your "inteligence" and not you sheer lack of feminine beauty.

It's almost as bad as when people talk about "People just need to see my for my inner beautyyy"

[Mistame]

And of course, another TA thread. /facepalm

Us real men are drawn to intelligent women.

Pro-Tip: "Real men" aren't white-knighting pansies.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Most women that spout the "He's intimidated by my intelligence" are hiding behind the fact that they're landwhales and other unpleasant things about them.


It's rationaization at it's best; it's deflection.

Everyone compensates in some way for their shortcomings.

[KrazyK923]

It's not even that, it's socially acceptable rationale for what is people's own shortcomings at times. "Nobody wants to date me, must be because of my intellifence"

My roomates exe used to say this about guys all the time. She happend to be one of those girls that play COD all day without taking care of herself. She had a chico mustache too.

But no darling, it's your "inteligence" and not you sheer lack of feminine beauty.

It's almost as bad as when people talk about "People just need to see my for my inner beautyyy"

One day feminism will abolish the idea that attraction can, a lot of the time, be just about the physical, or have it be a large part of it. Nobody ever is attracted to somebody because of their looks. Stop being such a misogynist, gawd.

All the super hot, cut gay men must just not like me because they're intimidated by my amazing intellect. Not that I'm a fat hairy nerd. Nope. STOP OPOPRESSING ME GAWD SUPPORT MY PATREON

[Lady Dragonheart]

I would too I see you haven't disagreed with him enough my dear. Don't see you put onto his "fanclub" on his sig like me and Heather ^^

Did you actually apply for it? Or did he just put that there...