Women pickier than men about one-night stands

Women are far more choosy about casual sex than men, who don't specially care whether a woman is moderately or exceptionally attractive as long as she hops into bed, new research says.

But German men are pickier than Americans and Italians -- in that order -- about who they spend a night in bed with, according to psychological research from Britain's Brunel University published in the journal Human Nature.

In the study, Achim Schutzwohl and his colleagues asked more than 400 male and 400 female students in the US, Germany and Italy to judge the role played by physical attractiveness in their willingness to go out with someone, go to their flat, or go to bed with them.

The imaginary members of the opposite sex asking for favours were ranked either "slightly unattractive", "moderately attractive" or "exceptionally attractive".

"Looks affected men and women differently," the research team said.

For all three offers, men were more likely to accept when the woman was moderately or exceptionally attractive, but it made no difference whether she was little or very appealing.

Women on the other hand were more likely to go to a man's flat or agree to go to bed if he was exceptionally attractive.

"While men are not entirely insensitive to their requestor's attractiveness, women have higher standards," the authors concluded.