A scientific study on love shows that men are increasingly interested in intelligent, educated women with dependable character and emotional stability, and chastity isn't an issue.

The findings by Researchers at the University of Iowa are part of a study quoted by media reports Monday.

Conducted every decade since 1939, the study asks participants to rank a list of 18 characteristics they would want in a partner on a scale ranging from "irrelevant" to "essential."

Included are such items as "sociability" and "good cook, housekeeper," as well as "mutual attraction and love," which came in first place for both men and women in 2008. (In 1939, it wasn't in the top three for either sex.)

Male and female participants in 2008 rounded out their top traits with "dependable character" and "emotional stability, maturity." Men ranked intelligence fourth, a big jump from 11th place in 1939; in addition, "good financial prospect" moved to 12th place in 2008, a shift from its low 17th-place ranking in 1939 and last-place ranking in 1967.

"This is a generation of men who has grown up with educated women as their mothers, teachers, doctors, and role models," said Christine Whelan, head of the study and author of "Marry Smart: The Intelligent Woman's Guide to True Love" (Simon & Schuster, 2008).

"And in tough economic times, sharing the financial burden with a spouse takes the burden off these guys to be the sole provider," she said.

The study's participants were college students from the University of Iowa, the University of Washington, the University of Virginia, and Penn State University.

"Like attracts like, so certainly the fact that we were polling college students would suggest that intelligence and education are going to be important characteristics," Whelan said.

Another notable shift involves the significance of chastity: In 1939, it was valued more than intelligence in women, but in 2008, it was ranked the least important characteristic. Furthermore, it also was ranked the least important for men. This, coupled with the shared top-three ranking for both men and women, suggests a commonality that seems positively modern-day.

 一項關于愛情的科學研究顯示，如今的男性對聰慧、受過教育、人品可靠且情緒穩定的女性越來越感興趣，而貞節已不再是個問題。

該研究由艾奧瓦大學的研究人員開展，研究結果在本周一的媒體報道中被引述。

該研究自1939年起每十年開展一次，主要讓研究對象對18個擇偶標準按照“無關緊要”到“非常重要”的標準進行排序。

這些標準包括“善于交際”、“廚藝精湛、會持家”以及 “相互吸引和愛情”等，這一項在去年的男女擇偶調查中均排在首位（在1939年的調查中，這一標準在男女調查中均未躋身前三）。

在2008年的調查中，男女受訪者最看重的品質都是“人品可靠”、“情緒穩定、成熟”。在本次調查中，男性將“聰明”排在第四位，較之1939年的第11位大幅上升，此外，“良好的經濟實力”升至第12位，該項在1939年的調查中僅排在第17位，在1967年的調查中墊底。

研究負責人、《嫁得漂亮：智慧女人的真愛指南》（西蒙舒斯特公司2008年出版）一書的作者克里斯蒂•威爾蘭說：“這一代男性在成長過程中接觸的都是一些受過良好教育的女性，比如他們的母親、老師、醫生和偶像。”

她說：“在經濟困難時期，找一個能共同負擔家庭經濟開支的伴侶可以減輕男人的壓力。”

該研究的對象是來自艾奧瓦大學、華盛頓大學、弗吉尼亞大學和賓州州立大學的學生。

威爾蘭說：“人以群分，物以類聚。所以我們在大學生中開展這項調查的做法表明，智商和受教育程度將成為十分重要的擇偶標準。”

另一個顯著的改變就是對于“貞節”的態度。在1939年調查中，男性對于女性“貞節”的重視遠超過“智慧”，而在2008年，無論男性還是女性都認為“貞節”是最不重要的因素。從貞節觀的轉變以及男女在擇偶時最看重的三個因素可以看出，當今社會的觀念已步入現代化。