Physique or solvency - What women look for in a man?

The old adage that women look for wealth in a man appears to be under threat, thanks to a UK research.

The old adage that women look for wealth in a man appears to be under threat after research on Wednesday showed women are starting to put physical attractiveness above solvency.

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The shift is occurring because women have been freed from the constraints that previously dictated how they chose a mate as they increasingly control their own finances, the study said.

"We are seeing that women who have control over their finances are less concerned with the fiscal status of their potential mates and look more as to how attractive they may be," said one of the authors, Fhionna Moore from Scotland's University of St Andrews.

The findings, to be published in Evolution and Human Behaviour journal, showed, however, that women who had low levels of financial independence still tended to rate a man's fiscal status above attractiveness.

Moore, a research student, found that as a woman's level of "resource control" changed, so did her preferences.

"It is the control and the independence the money gives rather than the absolute income level that appears to be the key predicting variable," she told Reuters.

An analysis of questionnaires returned by 1,851 heterosexual women aged between 18 and 35 showed women were able to change their attitudes relatively quickly in reaction to their changed financial status.

"We seem capable of changing our preferences in quite a short time which suggest environmental factors rather than inherent traits had a big impact in choice," she said.

"Women are quicker at adapting behaviour than previously thought," added Moore who is attached to the University's Psychology department.