Why Women are Attracted to Men Wearing Red

Overview

The aim of the research is to determine if women are attracted to men wearing red.  The findings revealed that females are indeed attracted to red on male. Red is often associated with high status.  This means the male would most likely earn more money and generate more power.  The high status association of the color red is what makes it attractive to women. Men who wear this color or seen with red background are seen as powerful and of high status thus, making them sexually desirable to women.

The impact of red on women is apparent even among different cultures. The study utilizes undergraduates from different countries particularly United States, England, Germany and China.  All women reported that men wearing or seen with red background are more attractive.  However, wearing red does not seem to affect women’s perception on a man’s likeability, agreeableness or extraversion.

In the experiment, the impact of red on the attractiveness scale is limited to just the women. Male participants do not react the same way as the women. Their perception on the scale of attractiveness on the man in the photo does not change even if the shirt or background color is changed to red.  The results of the experiment show that the color red has aesthetic as well as psychological impact on women.

Andrew J. Elliot from the University of Rochester and University of Munich. He is the lead author of the study. Other researchers and co-author of the experiment are: Daniela Niesta Kayser hails from the University of Rochester, Tobias Greitemeyer from the University of Innsbruck, Stephanie Lichtenfeld from the University of Munich, Richard H. Gramzow from the University of Southampton, Markus A. Maier from the University of Munich and Huijun Liu from Tianjin Medical University.

How the Research was Conducted

The research was conducted in a series of 7 experiments to find out if women see men to be more sexually desirable if they see him on a red background or wearing red outfits.  The women participants were informed that the experiment requires their first impressions on the male in the picture presented to them. The participants are not aware that the purpose of the experiment is to determine the effects of colors on the male’s attractiveness to women.

The woman is presented a photo of an average looking man for 5 seconds. The woman responds if she finds the man attractive or not on a scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being the least attractive and 10 the most attractive.  The color of the background or the man’s shirt was then manipulated.  There are two color utilized in this experiment: red and white. The result of the research showed that a significant number of female participants find the man with red background or red shirt to be more attractive than those in white background or white shirt.

Debate and Reaction

The claim that red color has an influence on attractiveness has been around since time immemorial. This is the reason why celebrities walk on the ‘red carpet’ and businessmen wear red to come across as confident.  In ancient times, red was always associated with women, passion, love or lust. Hence, the popular term “lady in red”.

Despite the color red’s strong association to women, it appears that the same color is also a factor in determining a man’s appeal. The experiment shows that male can actually enhance their attractiveness to women by just wearing red.  The attraction stems from the woman’s natural inclination to associate red to high status, money and power.

Implications

Clearly, the color red’s impact on attractiveness has both cultural and biological origins. Ancient culture dictates that red signifies love and passion. In biology, red color in primates like baboons is seen as an indicator of male dominance or what they refer to as the alpha males. Female primates tend to prefer the alpha males as their sexual partners because they are perceived as better able to provide protection and sustenance. In the same vein, women’s response to the red color seems to be biologically stimulated. Just like the primate’s reaction to alpha males, human females react positively to men wearing red because it gives men an air of dominance and power.

However, it does not really follow that just because the man wears red or seen in red background, the perception on man’s likeability, agreeability or extraversion also enhances.  The inner attributes of the male seem distinct and separate from his physical appeal.  Red color may enhance attractiveness but it will not determine a man’s inner substance.