A new study has concluded that in the long run women will always choose a nice guy.

The study which was published in the British Journal of Psychology, said "what women really want is men with big hearts".

In experiments, men who had "altruistic interests" - such as working for a charity - were consistently found to have much more appeal.

According toDr Pat Barclay: "Folk wisdom argues that 'nice guys finish last' and are less attractive than 'bad boys'.

"We found that women showed a strong preference for relationships with altruistic men."

"This suggests that women are attuned to generosity, and altruism serves a purpose in mate selection."

The study, which was conducted on150 Canadian women concluded: "If a man is kind and generous towards others - even strangers - then there's a good chance that he'd make a good and generous parent."

But men don't give much thought to how kind-hearted a woman is, unless they plan to marry.