I believe that as humans we often refuse to acknowledge that we are animals, and as animals, we have certain instincts whether we are even conscious of them. While those instincts can and are often suppressed by society…they sometimes break out without anyone even noticing. For example, why do 17 year old males feel the need to have a flashy car, or do stupid shit in front of females? They are peacocking:
Peacocking is the action or actions exhibited in the beginning stages of courting. These actions are typically only temporary and exist during “the chase” of a mate. Much like a male peacock displaying his fruitful colors of his feathers to capture the attention of a mate.
For example, Bob, while dating Jane, paid for dinner, brought her flowers & candy, won prizes for her. However, after confirmation of a mutual relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend) all actions taken to impress Jane are now gone. Ergo, Bob was peacocking
Similarly, anyone been around a pregnant woman nearing the end of her pregnancy? One word: Nesting. Something inside of her, with almost no regard to logic (or is it super logic?), makes her body move and clean the house and get it ready for the new baby.
So when I saw one of those cheesy credit score websites released a survey they commissioned I had to laugh to myself. The survey found found :
Women find financial responsibility(96 percent) more attractive in assessing a romantic partner than physical attractiveness (87 percent) or career ambition (87 percent).
Credit scores are significantly more important to women (75 percent) than men (57 percent).
Women rank financial compatibility and sex/intimacy (96 percent) equally as important when considering a long term partner.
Women view “is financially responsible” (95 percent) and “pays bills on time” (92 percent) as the top two financial attributes when evaluating a romantic prospect’s attractiveness. Collectively, men and women view “spends beyond means” (88 percent) and “has debt” (52 percent) as the least attractive attributes.
Nearly half of the respondents (48 percent) discuss their credit score with a romantic prospect or partner, and 39 percent discuss it within the first year of a relationship.
Women are more likely to factor credit scores into their dating decisions. However, 30 percent of women and 20 percent of men surveyed would not marry someone with a poor credit score.
Both men and women worry that a partner’s poor credit score could negatively impact securing a loan to buy a house (women 76 percent, men 61 percent), managing a joint credit account (women 59 percent, men 48 percent), getting good interest rates (women 56 percent, men 48 percent) and securing a loan to buy a car (women 47 percent, men 37 percent).
First thing that must be mentioned, it seems that the cheesy credit score company commissioned the survey so I am sure the outcome was already “known.” I am not saying that the company who did the survey did anything misleading or wrong, but it is analogous to when the Coalition to Advance Peanut Buttery Relations finds that Peanut Butter is the best thing for your sex drive. It just reeks of obviousness.
Notwithstanding, I think their findings make sense on a primal level.
Why Logically it Makes Sense That Women Care About Credit Score
While we may live in a civilized world (although I am sure 200 years from now they will we think we lived like cave dwellers) there are certain things that are just inherent to being an animal like the examples above. Another example I believe is a female choosing the right person to be able to take care of her and her offspring.
Back in the day what would constitute a good mate? Probably someone who can slay a willy mammoth. Being able to protect your partner is absolutely a trait that is still alive today even though it may not be done with a sword. A credit score is something that a woman might take into account in whether this person will be a good provider. Is fighting and money the only thing a woman takes into account? Hell if I have any idea how their brain is wired, I am just saying the findings of the survey seem in line with my very unoriginal theory.
No surprise from this woman. I’ve openly stated/written I’d rather receive a piece of paper announcing my man is debt free than a big engagement ring. Fiscally responsibility is a huge component of evaluating a potential life partner. And massive debt is a serious turn off.
Do you think it has to do with my reasoning?
I didn’t know my husband’s credit score until recently, but we made sure to discusses finances while dating. We wanted to make sure we were on the same page in regards to financial goals and how we handle money. We talked about our financial situations (at the time we were dating), what we would do in “what-if” scenarios, and what we expected of the other. Do we agree on every little thing? No, but we have the same financial priorities.
Honestly, the most important thing for me was the he could handle money himself. I didn’t want to monitor his spending and make he sure is sticking to the budget. I want to trust that he can do that for himself. And because we talked (and continue to talk) about money, I can.
Did you not think to ask? or did you trust since everything else was taken care of that was too?
A bit of both. Part of it was credit scores weren’t on my radar at the time, and partly because I trusted that we were sharing our complete financial picture with each other.
Hmm…. Money, like power, is an aphrodisiac. But I wonder if it’s not a pretty big leap from there to a credit score. For one thing, it’s pretty abstract. While your reasoning makes sense, not very many people (male or female) think things through that clearly.
Do you think Money is an aphrodisiac b/c of my reasoning?