Attractive people have stronger immune systems, finds study

A research team from Texas Christian University investigated a potential link between physicial attractiveness and the body's ability to fight off infection. Photo / Getty Images

Being attractive may have greater benefits that just getting you more dates and attention from keen suitors, it may have a positive affect on your immune system.

A research team from Texas Christian University investigated a potential link between physical attractiveness and the body's ability to fight off infection.

While it may seem like a bizarre research hypothesis, the study posited that we may be attracted to certain individuals, with appealing physical traits, due to a biological urge to seek a healthy partner.

The study focused on a group of 159 individuals, each of whom was photographed without make-up, and blood tests were also taken.

The scientists then asked 492 people to complete an online survey, rating each of the photographs according to their appearance.

Beautiful women had slower growth of a bacterium responsible for food poisoning and localised infections, than their less attractive counterparts in the study. Photo / Getty Images

The men considered to be the most attractive in the survey were found to have high-functioning cells involved in fighting viral infections from the body.

Beautiful women were found to have blood that revealed slower growth of a bacterium responsible for food poisoning and localised infections, than their less attractive counterparts in the study.

Surely what is attractive differs widely though? Yes, it does. Ultimately, however, previous studies have shown that certain key physical attributes are considered universally attractive, with one example being facial symmetry.

The lead researcher on the study asserts that the findings should not make those less attractive too concerned about their health, nor stop people looking past the surface when seeking a partner.

"With modern medicine, infections are not as deadly as they used to be, so perhaps it's okay if people lower their standards and start to give people who are less attractive a shot," said the study's lead author.