Scientists have now confirmed what good guys always knew: bad boys get the girls.
Researchers have shown that across cultures it really does pay to have a mean streak - with callous, self-obsessed, deceitful men proving the biggest hit with the opposite sex.
The findings, reported at the Human Behaviour and Evolution Society meeting in Kyoto, Japan, may help to explain why anti-social personality traits, known as the dark triad, could have an upside: a prolific sex life.
"James Bond epitomises this set of traits. He's clearly disagreeable, very extroverted and likes trying new things - killing people, new women," said study author Peter Jonason of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
"It is universal across cultures for high dark triad scorers to be more active in short-term mating," said David Schmitt of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, who also presented preliminary results at the same meeting from a survey of more than 35,000 people in 57 countries.
He said such people are more likely to try and poach other people's partners for a brief affairs.
Jonason and his colleagues subjected 200 college students to personality tests. Jonason found that those who scored higher on the 'dark triad' personality traits tended to have more partners and more desire for short-term relationships, according to the study highlighted by the New Scientist magazine.
But the correlation only held in males. The study shows that women who share the same personality traits do not enjoy the same success with the opposite sex.
Nice guys, however, need not lose all hope. Earlier studies have shown that while girls tend to like cads for flings, they usually settle down with more caring types.