Shyon Baumann and colleagues at the University of Toronto based their findings on a study of 2,000 advertising pictures of men and women. They determined lighter-skinned women in all races are seen as the ideal because of a subconscious association with "innocence, purity, modesty, virginity, vulnerability and goodness," Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported.

For women, Baumann said they are predominantly attracted to men with darker skin because of subconscious associations with sex, mystery and danger.

"Lightness and darkness have particular meanings attached to them and we subconsciously relate those preferences to women and men," Baumann told The Daily Telegraph.

The advertising study also found women with the darkest complexions were likely to be wearing the least clothes, suggesting an association with sex and danger, while women with the most pale skin were more likely to be conservatively dressed.