As if single women were not stigmatized enough, researchers at Oklahoma State University, likening single women to certain species of "mate-poaching" birds and fish, claim that a study they conducted reveals that single women are more likely to pursue men who are taken than single.

Melissa Burkley, who conducted the study with her colleague Jessica Parker, told 184 heterosexual university student participants they would be involved in a study on sexual attraction. The volunteers (equal numbers men and women, half attached and half single), were told that a computer program would match them with an ideal partner.

The same photograph of Mr. Right and Ms. Right were presented to the respective groups. Half of them were told these ideal mates were single, the other half were told they were in romantic relationships. The results? When told Mr. Right was single, 59 percent of the single women were interested in pursuing a relationship, but a whopping 90 percent were interested when told he was attached. Men didn't seem to care either way, and the attached women in the groups seemed to slightly favor single men. To hear what the researchers had to say about the results, read more.

So what do researchers Burkley and Parker make of the results? They hypothesize that single women might be more drawn to attached men because they've been "prescreened' by other women.

Perhaps I don't know enough about research methods, but how does this speculation arise from the results? Also, although these researchers asked participants whether they'd actually pursue a relationship rather than merely ask if they found the ideal mates attractive as previous studies had, what does that mean exactly? They might consider it — but I find it hard to believe 90 percent of women would actually go after an attached man. What do you think about this study and whether or not it would actually translate into real-world action?

Source: Getty
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