Why Do Some Men Prefer Women Dressed In Red?

Studies Say Women Wearing Red Are More Appealing And Less Likely To Reject Men

Two studies offer different insight into why men are attracted to woman dressed in red. One report cites that it is because they feel less chance of the woman rejecting them and the second study found females to be more sexy in red. And, it doesn't have to be a beautiful gown or sexy red dress, it can be just a red T-shirt.

The red dress has become a provocative image in modern culture and has muddled men's minds for years. From the hit movie "Pretty Woman" to inspiring singer-songwriters like Chris de Burgh, who wrote the 1986 love song, "The Lady In Red." If you're lucky enough to get a Valentine's Day card, it to will probably come decorated in tiny red hearts. What is it about women and the color red? Doctors now think they may know.

Fact Or Just Scientific Sexist Thinking?

Psychologists behind this research claim the color red carries subtle but powerful messages about how receptive a woman might be to romantic advances and so men find it more alluring. They found that men who were shown photographs of women wearing a red shirt found them more attractive compared to when they saw the same women wearing green or white garments.

It's an effect that likely stems from biology, says Adam Pazda, a psychologist at the University of Rochester in New York state and an author of the studies.  To understand why, Pazda and his colleagues conducted 2 simple experiments. First, they showed 25 men a photo of a single woman doctored to look, in different cases, like she was wearing either a red or white T-shirt.

The researchers then asked the volunteers to gauge, on a scale from 1 to 9, how keen the model seemed to be on romance. In other words, the men answered the question: "Is she interested in sex?" Men interpreted the red outfit as a signal that the woman was indeed more open to sexual advances. In fact, the guys tended to grade the woman's disposition to sex about 1 to 1.5 points higher when she was wearing a red rather than a white tee shirt. Pazda believes that perception, in turn, explains why men's lust perks up for women in red. "It's well known that males tend to inflate a woman's sexual appeal if they believe she'll be more open to a pickup line."

The second study tested 96 men from the United States and Austria. They were shown identical photographs where the color of the shirt a woman was wearing had been changed to either red, white or green. They were asked how sexually receptive they believed the woman to be. Reportedly, they found that men felt that women dressed in red would respond positively to their advances.

Pazda found it fascinating that merely changing the color of a woman's shirt can have such a strong influence on how she is perceived by men. "It is possible that women actually wear red clothing more when they are interested in sexual encounters. We are currently investigating this possibility, and preliminary evidence suggests that this is indeed happening."

Markus Maier, a psychologist at the University of Munich in Germany, feels the research is very interesting. "But, at this point, it's impossible to say just why men adore red so much. The effect could be evolutionary, but it could also be a cultural phenomenon, in other words, learned behavior passed down from generation to generation." To figure out which, he says, scientists would need to travel to isolated corners of the world to examine just how universal red's status as the color of love is.

Double Edged Sword

According to Dr. Pazda, even seemingly insignificant wardrobe choices can send out a lot of unintended signals. "Wearing red may be a double-edged sword, women may be getting sexual attention they don't want." But, he adds, there's a lesson for men, too. It's important for them to be aware of how their attitudes toward women can be twisted by often misleading cues.

End Of Story...

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