Women may be rewarded with a pregnancy glow but a new long-term study finds men, too, enjoy a baby-related bump in appearance. The difference is, theirs comes after the infant has been born – and it’s likely all in their heads.
Reporting in the Journal of Gender Studies, researchers found for the first time that new fathers – especially those whose wives gave birth early in the marriage – perceived themselves as being more attractive than before they had children. The study offers a novel snapshot of what sociologists believe is a “hidden benefit” of becoming a dad.
“There’s a lot of attention paid to how women think about themselves – particularly their bodies and their physical attractiveness – after childbirth. But to our knowledge there’s been nothing that looked at men,” said lead author Alicia Cast, an associate professor the University of California-Santa Barbara.
The data was drawn from a wider study of relationship dynamics during the first two years of marriage. All 182 participants were newlywed adults (average age of 24.6 for women, 26.3 for men) with no previous children.
Over three collection periods – once at the start, again around the first anniversary, and a final time around the second anniversary – spouses underwent face-to-face interviews, submitted daily diaries, and responded to various wellbeing-related questions, including measures of appearance. For example, one question asked them to individually rate their attractiveness on a scale from one to 100 (very ugly to perfect beauty/handsomeness), while another asked how they ordinarily saw themselves on a scale of one to five (unattractive to attractive).
For men who didn’t have children, notions of attractiveness remained stable. But those who became fathers during the study’s timeframe felt more attractive after their child was born than they did previously.
Cast says they can only speculate on why it is that men experience this temporary bump (perceptions of attractiveness rebounded to normal levels by the following year).
“I was talking about this paper with my husband and he commented on the attention he got when he was seen in public holding our son after he was born. Like, ‘Aren’t you a good dad,’ ‘Look at that new dad with his baby,’ ” said Cast.
“Women get that feedback, too, because everybody loves a new baby. But that (benefit) may be countered by other things she’s experiencing that he’s not, in terms of how her body has changed and being more physically tired.”
Another possibility Cast proposes is that a new baby serves as a social signal of masculinity. What it doesn’t appear to be, however, is a looking-glass effect, as analysis revealed that neither wives’ nor husbands’ perceptions of their attractiveness were influenced by their spouses’ views of them.
The degree to which men are conscious of this effect is uncertain.
Ryan Tobin, whose first child was born in November, says he does get more attention in public now but that it’s entirely centred on his daughter. If anything, the Edmonton father believes his experience has been the opposite of what was uncovered in the study.
“Did I all of a sudden turn into a superhero? No. Did I stop exhibiting manliness and start walking around with baby vomit on my sweater without knowing it? Yes,” said Tobin, laughing.
Ronald Rohner, professor emeritus of family studies at the University of Connecticut, suggests further research is needed to draw any firm conclusions. He’s curious about how such factors as a baby’s gender, for example, might play a role.
“It’s an intriguing idea,” said Rohner, who has no connection to the study. “Whereas some women experience postpartum depression, some men experience a postpartum glow.”
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