India, Feb. 20 -- We all say that brains matter more than looks when it comes to choosing a life partner, but do we really mean it? A new study suggests otherwise. Despite claiming that intelligence is the top priority, both women and their parents tend to pick the more attractive option when forced to choose, even if the less attractive one is described as smarter.

Across cultures, parents often play a key role in their daughters' mate selection, usually prioritising qualities that signal long-term stability, like intelligence and financial prospects. While both women and their parents claim to value intelligence highly and consider physical attractiveness less important, past research has mostly relied on self-reported preferences rath...