Research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology finds that cues to ambient darkness decrease women’s willingness to engage with physically strong men. Throughout evolutionary history, physical threats have driven humans to develop perceptual systems that identify potential dangers in the environment. When evaluating men, women in particular weigh the risks and benefits of associating with those who exhibit physical strength. Although upper body strength is typically desirable for its implications of protection and genetic fitness, its link to aggression and threat makes it ambivalent in certain situations. Mitch Brown and colleagues sought to investigate how ambient darkness—a condition associated with heightened perception of threats—affects women’s preference for strong men. Existing literature suggests that women feel a heightened sense of vulnerability in dark environments, which may alter how they perceive social targets. Darkness is associated with both uncertainty and an increased readiness to detect social threats. Thus, the researchers hypothesized that women might be less willing to engage with strong men in dark settings, given the potential costs associated with formidable men in ambiguous environments. …