We've heard it before: nice guys finish last. And when it comes to sexual attraction, it appears the rule holds.

A new study finds that women are more attracted to the brooding, "bad boy" rather than happy-go-lucky guys.

Now before you go asking, "They needed a study to tell us that?!", hear us out. The University of British Columbia researchers who worked on the study say there's an inherent contradiction in this finding.

They note that in almost every social interaction -- including those involving sexual attraction -- smiling is actually considered essential. But when it comes to first impressions, women seem to prefer men who look either sullen or boastful.

The study from UBC's Deptartment of Psychology involved more than 1,000 men and women who were asked to rate how sexually attractive they found hundreds of pictures of people of the opposite sex.

The pictures showed men and women engaged in standard displays of happiness (broad smiles), pride (raised heads, puffed-up chests) or shame (lowered heads, averted eyes).

When they asked the women which images they found sexiest, the women tended to be least interested in the smiling, happy men. They instead preferred either those who looked proud and powerful, or moody and ashamed.

In contrast, men were most sexually attracted to women who looked happy, and least attracted to women who appeared proud and confident.

Alec Beall, a UBC psychology graduate student and one of the study's co-authors says it's important to remember that the study was meant to explore first impressions of sexual attraction.

"We were not asking participants if they thought these targets would make a good boyfriend or wife – we wanted their gut reactions on carnal, sexual attraction," he explained in a news release.

He notes that previous studies have found nice personalities and positive emotions are highly desirable in relationship partners. But when it comes to sexual attraction, women seem to like their men "complicated."

Why would women like men who looked ashamed? Prof. Jessica Tracy of UBC's Deptartment of Psychology, who also worked on the study, has a theory.

She says displays of shame suggest the men are aware of social norms and appeasement behaviors, which suggests they are trustworthy, a trait that is valued by both sexes.

As for why the women preferred the men who raised their arms in pride, that one was a bit easier to explain.

First off, the pride expression accentuated the men's physical features, such as upper body size and muscularity, which may have helped to make the men more sexually attractive.

As well, evolutionary theories suggest females are often attracted to male displays of pride because they imply status and competence. Smiling, on the other hand, is often linked with a lack of dominance.

Men may have preferred the smiling women because happiness is considered a particularly feminine-appearing expression.

And like it or not, traditional gender norms call for men to be dominant and strong, and women to be submissive and vulnerable.

"Generally, the results appear to reflect some very traditional gender norms and cultural values that have emerged, developed and been reinforced through history, at least in Western cultures," Tracy said in the news release.

"These include norms and values that many would consider old-fashioned and perhaps hoped that we've moved beyond."

The study appears in the online edition of the American Psychological Association journal Emotion.

We may never know precisely how it all happened.

But after days of confusing and sometimes contradictory reports by U.S. officials and others, some clarity is finally emerging from what even the White House has dubbed “the fog of war” surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden.

We now know, for instance, that what was first described as a 40-minute firefight inside bin Laden’s Pakistan compound was no such thing. Only one of the five people killed by U.S. Navy SEALs was armed and fired a shot. And no, it probably wasn’t the terrorist leader himself, wielding an AK-47 from a third-floor window, as initially reported.

It’s also now generally agreed that the hitherto secret stealth helicopter used by the Americans — the one that crashed into the wall surrounding bin Laden’s compound — was a souped-up version of an MH-60 Black Hawk.

And Al Qaeda confirmed Friday that its former leader is, in fact, dead, which should put a stop to all the conspiracy theorists who claimed the U.S. had faked the whole operation or killed someone other than bin Laden.

Some questions, however, remain unanswered. Which commando shot an unarmed bin Laden, and what prompted him to do so? Was it a so-called kill mission from outset? And why were none of the survivors taken away? Continued at this source:

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/987419--seeking-clarity-in-conflicting-stories-on-osama-bin-laden-s-death?bn=1

(The Canadian Press) – 22 minutes ago

ELKO, Nev. — It is an astonishing tale of survival against all odds.

A British Columbia woman who vanished with her husband seven weeks ago on their way to Las Vegas was found alive Friday in a remote part of northeastern Nevada, police said.

Hunters found Rita Chretien, 56, with her van in Elko County, according to a joint statement from the RCMP and police in Baker City, Ore., where the couple were last seen. But there was no sign of her husband, Albert Chretien.

"We're stunned," the woman's son, Raymond Chretien, told the (Portland) Oregonian newspaper. "We haven't fully digested it. This is a miracle."

Rita Chretien survived 49 days in the wilderness by eating snow and small amounts of trail mix, her son said. She was airlifted to St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Centre in Twin Falls, Idaho, where a nursing supervisor said she was in fair condition Friday night.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk told The Associated Press that family members said she had lost 20-30 pounds during her ordeal but was on her feet, walking around at the hospital in Twin Falls.

A couple on four-wheelers spotted the Chretiens' van in a ravine near the Humboldt National Forest, Elko County sheriff's detective Sgt. Kevin McKinney told the Elko Daily Free Press.

"She sounds like she's coherent and she's very hungry," McKinney said, adding that officers interviewed her at the hospital.

Raymond Chretien said the sheriff's office planned to begin a search for his father Saturday, adding that he and his wife would be flying out to join his mother at the hospital.

Rita Chretien told her son she and her husband left their Penticton home March 19, crossed into Washington and reached Baker City that afternoon, where they bought gas at a food mart and were captured on a video surveillance camera.

The couple own a commercial excavating business and were headed to Las Vegas for a trade show.

Raymond Chretien said his mother told him they were sightseeing on back roads when their 2000 Chevrolet Astro van got stuck in mud. Three days later, Albert Chretien, 59 set out on foot to look for help, and never returned.

"I don't believe they were prepared for winter weather," Raymond Chretien said. "They don't go camping."

He said his mother doubts whether she would have lived more than another two or three days had the hunters not found her.

Rita Chretien kept a journal to let her family know what had happened if she didn't survive. Her son said she immediately apologized for the anguish she caused him, his two brothers and other relatives.

"She felt extremely bad for us all," he said.

The couple were reported missing by relatives after they didn't return home March 30.

In late April, police agencies said an extensive search air and ground had failed to turn up any sign of the couple or their vehicle.

_ With files from The Associated Press.