3 Ways to Tell If He's The "Marrying Type"

Wondering how to know if he is the "marrying type?" Well, if you're dating someone hot with a decent personality who bathes regularly, you might just have a future spouse on your hands. A new study, published in Social Science Research, looks at how physical attractiveness, personality, and grooming influence the likelihood that someone will get married.

Researchers, led by Michael T. French, a sociology professor at the University of Miami, followed 9,000 teenagers from 1994 to 2009, as they became young adults aged between 24 and 34. Interviewers rated participants' looks, personality, and grooming on a scale of one to five, five being the most attractive. Just one big universal "attractive" category, with no room for those of us who pine for the sarcastic, surly type.

Researchers found that no single trait indicated marriageability. Instead, possessing that holy trinity of looks, personality, and, um, personal hygiene (what researchers call the "the personal traits index") was most linked to likelihood of marriage. "Increasing the value of the personal traits index by one standard deviation is associated with a 13.7 percent greater hazard of entering into marriage for men and a 13.2 percent greater hazard of entering into marriage for women," the study explains. Interesting use of the word "hazard." The study itself is headed by that useful Aristotle adage, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts."

"The results also suggest they may be able to compensate for a deficiency in one desirable trait by enhancing the presence of another. For example, a person lacking in physical attractiveness may choose to invest more in grooming in order to become a more attractive partner."

There might still be hope for single surly cuties. “Though certainly not definitive, these results suggest that individuals may be able to trade-off different personal traits to enhance their competitiveness in generating offers and finding a suitable mate," the study reads. "The results also suggest they may be able to compensate for a deficiency in one desirable trait by enhancing the presence of another. For example, a person lacking in physical attractiveness may choose to invest more in grooming in order to become a more attractive partner." Hear that, sarcastic humbugs? Invest in a killer wardrobe and get yourself a six pack and you'll be walking down the aisle in no time.

Now, while you ponder your marriageability in light of this new information, I'll be hanging out in CVS' soap aisle, waiting for a nice and clean mate.