If you've been unable to score any second dates lately, your storytelling skills could be to blame. Good storytellers are more attractive, according to a study from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Buffalo, published in the March 2016 issue of Personal Relationships.
John K. Donahue and Melanie C. Green gave participants photographs of potential partners and told them whether or not the individuals pictured were god storytellers, later provided them with "a good or poor story supposedly written by a potential partner," and finally attempted to determine why storytelling ability only affected women's perceptions of men as long-term partners.
The researchers found that "women's attractiveness assessments of men as a long-term date increased for good storytellers." Storytelling ability did not affect men's ratings of women, nor did it change women's views on potential short-term partners. Green theorizes that, because "[s]torytelling is linked to the ability to be a good provider," women looking for an extended partnership value it as a character trait in potential mates. Because Donahue and Green did not survey non-heterosexual individuals, it's unclear whether men and women would rate same-sex partners in the same way.
No matter what gender or sexuality you are, if you're already in a long-term relationship, being a good storyteller can still make you more attractive to your partner. As time wears on, you and your mate will someday run out of things to talk about, if only temporarily. Being able to spin the banalities of your day — the people you watched, the Netflix you binged, the conversations you had — into entertaining stories helps you maintain your bond with your partner. So tell good stories.
