Do women find men more attractive in conjunction with the colour red?
Candidate number: 232953
, Introduction:
The question “what do women find attractive in men?” preoccupies men and scholars alike. Studies
exploring women’s sexuality indicate that many factors shape female perceptions of male
attractiveness, with physique and facial features proving particularly influential (Gangestad & Scheyd,
2005). More recently, dynamic factors like colour have been revealed to influence mate evaluation. In
particular, studies focus on the effect of red on male perceptions of female attractiveness. However,
substantially less research exists on the red effect regarding female perceptions of male attractiveness,
the focus of this report (Buechner, Maier, Lichtenfeld & Elliot, 2015).
Women are postulated to be drawn to men displaying red, due to its connotations of romance, high
status and physical wellbeing (Hutchings, 2004). Such links may have been established through social
learning, with red historically symbolising affluence and social ranking. However, links between red
and male attractiveness in the animal kingdom suggest that the relationship is biologically rooted.
Elliot et al (2010) propose that this relationship is mediated by status, as exemplified by red indicating
high rank in sticklebacks (Bakker & Sevenster, 1983), mandrills (Little, Jones & DeBruine, 2011) and
baboons (Dunbar, 1984).
Alas, previous research into the red effect yields conflicting results, with some studies finding that red
increased female perceptions of male attractiveness (i.e. Elliot et al, 2010; Stephen, Oldham & Perret,
2012), and others suggesting otherwise (i.e. Buechner et al, 2015; Hesslinger, Goldbach & Carbon,
2015). In their recent work, Roberts, Owen & Havlicek (2010) showed that men wearing red (rather
than black, white, green, blue or yellow) were deemed more attractive by women. This result was
echoed by Elliot et al (2010), who manipulated the t-shirt or background colour of photographed men
in a sequence of tests. The red effect was also found for men with redder skin (Stephen & McKeegan,
2010) and for men described as wearing red (Pazda & Elliot, 2017). Conversely, Hesslinger,
Goldbach & Carbon (2015) found that red didn’t impact upon female judgements of male
attractiveness. Further literature suggests that red’s impact on attraction is complex, with factors like
facial expressions (Buechner et al, 2015), sexual dimorphism cues (Wen, Zuo, Wu, Sun, & Liu,
2014), and marital status (Pontes & Hoegg, 2020) mediating the effect.
Candidate number: 232953
, Introduction:
The question “what do women find attractive in men?” preoccupies men and scholars alike. Studies
exploring women’s sexuality indicate that many factors shape female perceptions of male
attractiveness, with physique and facial features proving particularly influential (Gangestad & Scheyd,
2005). More recently, dynamic factors like colour have been revealed to influence mate evaluation. In
particular, studies focus on the effect of red on male perceptions of female attractiveness. However,
substantially less research exists on the red effect regarding female perceptions of male attractiveness,
the focus of this report (Buechner, Maier, Lichtenfeld & Elliot, 2015).
Women are postulated to be drawn to men displaying red, due to its connotations of romance, high
status and physical wellbeing (Hutchings, 2004). Such links may have been established through social
learning, with red historically symbolising affluence and social ranking. However, links between red
and male attractiveness in the animal kingdom suggest that the relationship is biologically rooted.
Elliot et al (2010) propose that this relationship is mediated by status, as exemplified by red indicating
high rank in sticklebacks (Bakker & Sevenster, 1983), mandrills (Little, Jones & DeBruine, 2011) and
baboons (Dunbar, 1984).
Alas, previous research into the red effect yields conflicting results, with some studies finding that red
increased female perceptions of male attractiveness (i.e. Elliot et al, 2010; Stephen, Oldham & Perret,
2012), and others suggesting otherwise (i.e. Buechner et al, 2015; Hesslinger, Goldbach & Carbon,
2015). In their recent work, Roberts, Owen & Havlicek (2010) showed that men wearing red (rather
than black, white, green, blue or yellow) were deemed more attractive by women. This result was
echoed by Elliot et al (2010), who manipulated the t-shirt or background colour of photographed men
in a sequence of tests. The red effect was also found for men with redder skin (Stephen & McKeegan,
2010) and for men described as wearing red (Pazda & Elliot, 2017). Conversely, Hesslinger,
Goldbach & Carbon (2015) found that red didn’t impact upon female judgements of male
attractiveness. Further literature suggests that red’s impact on attraction is complex, with factors like
facial expressions (Buechner et al, 2015), sexual dimorphism cues (Wen, Zuo, Wu, Sun, & Liu,
2014), and marital status (Pontes & Hoegg, 2020) mediating the effect.
