Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels may have sung about the “devil with a blue dress on,” but according to a recent study, men prefer Chris de Burgh’s “lady in red.”
Scientists have long known that the color red sexually arouses nonhuman male primates, but the recent study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that human males also respond to that color.
Researchers came to this conclusion after conducting two experiments.
In the first experiment, researchers gathered 23 heterosexual male undergrads and showed them a picture of a young, moderately attractive female. Half of the men saw a photo in which the woman was wearing a red shirt, while the other half saw a photo in which the same woman was wearing a green shirt. Investigators then told the men the woman was in the next room and presented the men with a list of 24 questions they could ask her. The men could only choose 5 questions. Researchers found that men who anticipated the woman in red were more likely to ask “intimate questions” like “How could a guy get your attention at a bar?” than men who anticipated the same woman in green.
In a second, related experiment, researchers told participants a woman was preparing to join them and pointed to a chair where the woman would be sitting. If the men expected a lady in red, they tended to sit closer to the woman’s chair than men who expected a lady in blue.
While men can gain little from this study other than the knowledge they (unconsciously) prefer women in red, Daniela Niesta Kayser, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study, recommends that women wear red if they want to attract a certain fellow. He states:
“It appears that women would do well to wear a red shirt or dress when preparing for a date with a desirable man, and women may be particularly successful in online dating when they post a picture of themselves in red apparel.”
Red hot, indeed.
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