Men who have good-looking sons are themselves considered to be better-looking by women, according to a study.
A man's ability to produce a handsome child is an instinctive sign that he has good-quality genes, making him appear more attractive, the researchers believe.
This is because from an evolutionary perspective, a woman's preference for certain traits in a man provide clues that he can pass on genes that will increase the survival or reproductive success of any children they have.
For the study, by the University of Trnava in Slovakia, the researchers showed 260 women photographs of men who had previously been rated on their looks in a separate experiment. The images of the men were then paired alongside photos of boys aged between four and five who had also previously been rated on their attractiveness. The women were told that the boys were the men's sons, though in reality they weren't.
When a man was paired with a handsome child the women tended to rate the man as more attractive - and less attractive when paired with an "ugly" child.
