Category: Social psychology

These shoes may act like an unconscious signal to men.

High heels make women more attractive to men, research finds.

The higher the high heels were, the more helpful men were — indicating they were looking for an excuse to talk to her.

Men were also quicker to approach a woman wearing high heels in a bar.

For the series of studies, a female researcher either wore flats, 5 cm heels or 9 cm heels.

She then asked men and women in the street to fill in a survey.

The heel height made no difference to the rate at which women agreed to fill in the survey.

However, men were most likely to agree to the survey when she wore 9 cm heels.

In a third study a female researcher appeared to drop a glove in the street accidentally.

When she wore flats, 62% of passing men picked it up for her.

When she wore 9 cm high heels, though, 93% of passing men helped her out.

The heels made little difference to passing women, with only around 50% helping her out.

Professor Nicolas Guéguen, the study’s author, writes:

“In four experimental studies conducted in several field settings, we reported that the length of shoe heels worn by
women exerted an effect on men’s behavior.

Four times we observed that men more easily displayed social interaction with a woman wearing high heels.”

It is still not really known why high heels are attractive to men.

The study’s author suggests four reasons, the first three of which he rejects:

1. It makes a woman’s foot look smaller, which in turn suggests youth. This doesn’t seem that likely.
2. High heels make a woman taller. This is unlikely as men generally do not prefer taller women and the woman was seated in one study.
3. High heels change the way women walk. Again, in one study, women were seated, so this doesn’t explain it.

The fourth is probably the best explanation: high heels are culturally fetishised.

In other words, high heels are linked in men’s minds to sex.

Perhaps they act like a signal that a woman is more receptive and, unconsciously, they feel they have a better chance with a woman wearing high heels.

The study was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior (Guéguen, 2014).

The type of compliment that women prefer.

Using metaphorical compliments makes men more attractive to women than using literal ones, new research finds.

Women in the Chinese study found men more attractive if they used phrases like “Your eyes are morning dew”.

On the other hand, saying things like “Your lips are so sexy”, was not the way to go.

It is very clear which type of compliment is most romantic, but the use of metaphor has another subtle purpose.

Metaphors require more intelligence and creativity to generate so they are indirect signals of a person’s creativity and intelligence.

The study’s authors explain:

“We tend to form very rapid impressions about a person’s attractiveness in social contexts and thus for women, cues from language usage during initial encounters may provide a rapid first assessment of a potential mate’s intellectual and creative abilities.”

Alongside complimenting women’s appearance, the study also tested complimenting their potential girlfriend’s house.

They either said metaphorical things like “Your roof is a lover’s shoulder” or literal things like “Your door is very strong”.

Naturally these house-based compliments didn’t go down as well as those directed at the woman’s appearance.

Still, though, the metaphorical compliment created more attraction than the literal one.

The authors write:

“…women, in contrast with men, prefer creativity and intelligence rather than physical attractiveness and for the compliments used in our current study women did indeed perceive those which were figurative as indicating higher intelligence in a man than literal expression compliments.”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Gao et al., 2017).

People look more attractive when gazing in this way.

Looking directly at someone makes you more attractive to them, research finds.

People were particularly attracted to opposite-sex faces that were looking at them and smiling.

Dr Claire Conway, the study’s first author, said:

“When asked to think of examples of attractive facial characteristics, most people think of physical traits such as healthy looking skin, symmetrical features or a strong jaw.

Here we show that gaze direction can also be important for attraction.”

People in the study looked at a series of pictures in which faces were sometimes looking at the viewer and sometimes away.

Different facial expressions were also tested.

Dr Conway explained the results:

“Faces that were looking directly at the viewer were judged more attractive than faces with averted gaze.

This effect was particularly pronounced if the face was smiling and the opposite sex to the viewer.

This shows that people prefer faces that appear to like’ them and that attraction is not simply about physical beauty.

It is possible that our brains are wired this way to allow us to invest our time in attracting members of the opposite sex who seem the most receptive to our interest in them.”

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B (Conway et al., 2008).

People were shown happiness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise, as well as a neutral expression.

The most attractive facial expression for a photo is any one you like.

People judge facial attractiveness from your features, so your expression makes little difference to a photo.

Smiling is often thought to be the most attractive facial expression, which is partly why most people smile in photos.

However, this study finds otherwise.

For the research, 128 people looked at a series of pictures of both men and women shown with different facial expressions.

They were shown happiness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise, as well as a neutral expression.

The men and women were given the same ratings for attractiveness, no matter what facial expression they displayed.

Bear in mind that this study only tested people in pictures.

If you were meeting someone face-to-face, then it will clearly matter if you smile or scowl.

But even when scowling it is obvious whether someone is good looking (or not).

The study’s authors conclude:

“Since the hard tissues of the face are unchangeable, people may still be able to perceive facial structure whatever expression the face is displaying, and still make attractiveness judgements based on structural cues.”

The study was published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Morrison et al., 2013).

Eating carrots, wearing red, how to walk sexy and more…

Click the links for more on each study.

1. Eat carrots

Yellow and red skin pigments are perceived as 50% more attractive in Caucasian people, new research finds.

Although these pigments in the skin are supposed to be signals of good health, they can be faked.

Taking beta-carotene supplement, for example, will have the same effect.

Beta-carotene is the pigment that gives carrots — and other fruits and vegetables — a strong red/yellow colour.

2. Wear the colour red

Wearing the colour red makes both men and women more attractive to the opposite sex, studies find.

When men wear it, red sends signals of status and dominance to others.

When women wear it, the extra pull on men may have deeper, biological roots.

3. Walk sexy

Attractiveness is about more than just body shape and facial features — it is also about the way people move.

Women who sway their hips while walking increase their perceived attractiveness by 50%, research finds.

Men who walk with swagger in their shoulders more than doubled the perception of their attractiveness.

Swagger involves dipping the shoulders slightly with each step to create a rolling motion.

4. Help other people

Being altruistic — helping others without thought of reward — is particularly attractive to women, research finds.

But both men and women find those who are altruistic more attractive.

The results come from three studies including over 1,000 people.

People were asked about the behaviours they looked for in a mate.

Some of the suggested behaviours included donating blood and volunteering in a local hospital.

Women were more keen on these altruistic traits in a potential partner.

5. Nod your head

Nodding the head increases attractiveness to others by up to 40% research finds.

Head nodders were rated as both more likeable and more approachable.

It was primarily people’s personality that appeared more attractive when they nodded.

Essentially, nodding makes people more likely to approach you in social interactions.

6. Arch the back (women)

A slight arching of a woman’s back — extending her buttocks outward — makes her more alluring, research finds.

It might help to explain the mystery of why high-heeled shoes are so popular.

They cause women to arch their backs slightly to help them balance.

The study found that only relatively small changes in how much a woman’s back was arched made her look more appealing.

7. Grow a beard (men)

Women judge fully bearded men to be a better bet for long-term relationships, new research finds.

This might be because it makes men look more ‘formidable’.

Certainly, beards make men look older and more aggressive.

Beards are also often judged to make men look like they have higher social status.

However, for short-term relationships, women judge stubble to be most attractive, the new research found.

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It benefits women but surprisingly had a slightly negative effect on men’s attractiveness.

Being nice makes women more attractive to men, research finds.

Men who think that women are more ‘responsive’ find them more feminine.

Femininity is linked to greater sexual arousal and so to increased attraction for most men.

However, for men, being nice did not make them more attractive to women.

If anything, being nice had a slightly negative effect on the attractiveness of a man to a woman.

Professor Gurit Birnbaum, the study’s first author, explained that:

“Some women, for example, may interpret responsiveness negatively and feel uncomfortable about a new acquaintance who seems to want to be close.

Such feelings may impair sexual attraction to this responsive stranger.

Other women may perceive a responsive stranger as warm and caring and therefore as a desirable long-term partner.”

The study tested different types of responses to the disclosure of a personal problem.

A nice, responsive answer might be: “You must have gone through a very difficult time”

A less nice answer would be: “Doesn’t sound so bad to me”

Professor Birnbaum said:

“We still do not know why women are less sexually attracted to responsive strangers; it may not necessarily have to do with ‘being nice.’

Women may perceive a responsive stranger as less desirable for different reasons.

Women may perceive this person as inappropriately nice and manipulative (i.e., trying to obtain sexual favors) or eager to please, perhaps even as desperate, and therefore less sexually appealing.

Alternatively, women may perceive a responsive man as vulnerable and less dominant.

Regardless of the reasons, perhaps men should slow down if their goal is to instill sexual desire.”

The study was published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (Birnbaum et al., 2014).