I was going to blog about robots today but I think I'll shelve that for now. (Tease.) I just now came across an interesting article about, among other things, the sexiness of sympathy.

The article discusses a recent study of altruistic feelings and how they affect married couples. "Altruistic love was associated with greater happiness in general and especially with more marital happiness," concludes Tom Smith of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago in a report released today."

It then devolves into a chicken/egg speculation about whether happy marriages create sympathetic people or vice versa, but that's not what I wanted to talk about today. This study got me thinking about whether or not people find sympathy and altruism sexy in a partner. Or at least not a turn-off.

How shallow of me to even ask! To even think that sympathy could be a turn-off! Is my heart made completely of coal?! Oh, please. Let's be honest: who turned your head in high school? The self-centered and cocky bully? Or the guy who had to leave band practice early to make macaroons for his church bake sale?

Yeah. I thought so.

But was that then and this is now? Is your fiance a "nice guy"? Do we ever outgrow the appeal of "bad boys"?Obviously, no one likes a puppy-kicker, but can too much kindness seem un-manly somehow? You tell me...