Successful women are at a disadvantage when it comes to marriage since men prefer a subordinate to a superior, a University of Michigan study concludes.

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Stephanie Brown, lead author for the Institute for Social Research study, told the New York Times the controversial finding showed evolution may be the reason men would rather marry a secretary than a boss.

Brown said the results, drawn from a survey of 208 female and 120 male college undergraduates, demonstrate more is at play than male vanity and insecurity.

"Pressures associated with the threat of paternal uncertainty" caused the male reaction, Brown told the newspaper.

Females, the research concludes, showed no preference for superior or subordinate.