Jun 18, 2014 09:04 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The "trophy wife" stereotype is largely a myth, according to a recent study.

Women who marry rich men, placing little importance on their other traits, including physical appearance, and men who look for pretty wives but don't care about their education or earnings, fit into the trophy wife stereotype.

Researchers from the university of Notre Dame found that this stereotype is largely a myth fueled by selective observation that reinforces sexist stereotypes and trivializes women's careers.

"I find that handsome men partner with pretty women and successful men partner with successful women," Elizabeth McClintock, a sociologist who specializes in inequality within romantic partnerships, said in a statement. "So, on average, high-status men do have better-looking wives, but this is because they themselves are considered better looking--perhaps because they are less likely to be overweight and more likely to afford braces, nice clothes and trips to the dermatologist, etc. Secondly, the strongest force by far in partner selection is similarity -- in education, race, religion and physical attractiveness."

For the study, McClintock and colleagues used a nationally representative sample of young couples in which both partners were interviewed and rated for physical attractiveness, McClintock was able to control for matching on attractiveness.

Based on the findings, there is not, in fact, a general tendency for women to trade beauty for money. That is not to say trophy wife marriages never happen, just that they are very rare.

"Donald Trump and his third wife Melania Knauss-Trump may very well exemplify the trophy wife stereotype," McClintock says. "But, there are many examples of rich men who partner with successful women rather than 'buying' a supermodel wife. The two men who founded Google (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) both married highly accomplished women -- one has a PhD and the other is a wealthy entrepreneur."

The study also indicates that, contrary to the trophy wife stereotype, social class barriers in the marriage market are relatively impermeable. Beautiful women are unlikely to leverage their looks to secure upward mobility by marriage.

The findings will be published in the American Sociological Review.

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