This might explain a lot: New research, cited in Time Magazine, finds that people with “symmetrical facial features”—i.e. are gorgeous—are more likely to be selfish and are less likely to cooperate with others.
So all those ’I deserve to have the heroine because I am smokin’ hot, no female has ever denied me’ heroes? Based in reality, apparently. And because it’s a romance novel, and fiction, it’s only when they can become less selfish that they deserve the heroine’s love.
In real life, would you be able to resist someone as beautiful as Johnny Depp, James Franco, or Takeshi Kaneshiro? Even if it meant dealing with his selfishness?
