Romantic attraction is a that scientists still don't completely understand. But, through research and experimentation, they've come up with many ideas about what draws one person to another. Below, Business Insider has rounded up some of the most compelling scientific insights about the traits and behaviors that make men more appealing to women. Then she drops her eyelids, tilts her head down and to the side, and looks away. Frequently she also covers her face with her hands, giggling nervously as she retreats behind her palms. While the majority of users were inclined to reach out to highly attractive people, they were most likely to get a response if that person was about as attractive as they were as judged by independent raters. If they are much less attractive, you are worried that you could do better. And a y from Cardiff Metropolitan University found that men pictured in a luxury apartment were rated more attractive than those in a control group. Interestingly, men don't seem to be more attracted to women when they're pictured in a high-status context. As the women became more financially independent, they said they liked older guys even more. Society also gives men greater opportunity to accumulate status and resources as they age. Grow a light beard In a from researchers at the University of New South Wales, researchers had 177 heterosexual men and 351 heterosexual women look at images of 10 men in one of four conditions: clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble, or full beard. Participants rated the men pictured on several traits, including attractiveness. That women said the most attractive beard length was heavy stubble. Results showed that women were more likely to want short-term relationships with the guys who had big muscles. The evolutionary signal that might be at work here? Frederick and Martie G. But Frederick and Haselton took away another telling finding: Less-muscular men were thought to be a better fit for long-term relationships. So if you want to catch a woman's eye and hold her attention, you may be better off not going overboard. Be kind One of the best documented findings in psychology is the halo effect, a bias where you unconsciously take one aspect of somebody as a proxy for their overall character. It's why we think beautiful people are good at their jobs, even when they aren't necessarily. In a more than 100 young people looked at images of men and women's faces and rated them on attractiveness. Each face pictured was paired with a word that described either a positive personality trait — like kindness or honesty — or a negative personality trait, like being evil or mean. Results showed that the people described with positive traits were rated more attractive. Will Smith wears red Getty Images A — with participants from China, England, Germany, and the US — found that women are most attracted to men wearing red. In one experiment from the study, 55 female undergrads looked at a colour photo of a man in either a red or green shirt, and then rated the man's attractiveness. Sure enough, the man was rated significantly more attractive when he was wearing a red shirt. The results were similar when researchers compared the red shirt to other colour shirts as well. Interestingly, participants generally weren't aware that the man's clothing colour was influencing their perceptions of his attractiveness. Make your partner laugh that women are more attracted to men who can make them laugh. In, a man told a joke to two friends at a bar while a woman sat at a nearby table. Then that man was instructed to approach the woman and ask for her number. In another version of the situation, one of the men who listened to the joke asked the woman for her number. These scenarios were repeated about 60 times total. After the man left, an experimenter approached the woman and asked her to rate the man on attractiveness and intelligence, and to indicate how much she would want to date the man long-term. Results showed that the guy was three times as likely to get the woman's number when he'd told a joke. Plus he was rated more attractive and intelligent. Walk a dog In a 2014 from the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel and the University of Michigan, 100 Israeli women read vignettes about men. Whenever the story featured a cad who owned a dog, women rated that man as a more suitable long-term partner than a cad who didn't own a dog. Cads with dogs were even rated slightly more attractive than dads with dogs. The researchers concluded that owning a pet signals that you're nurturing and capable of making long-term commitments. It can also help you appear more Not into pet ownership? Simply being seen with a dog can make you seem more dateable. In a French study from 2008, a 20-year-old man approached hundreds of women and asked for their phone numbers. When he had a dog with him, he was three times more likely to score their digits. Play good music , researchers at the University of Sussex asked about 1,500 women whose average age was 28 to listen to simple and complex pieces of music and rate the attractiveness of the composer. The results showed that women preferred the more complex music, and said they would choose the composer of the more complex music as a long-term partner. Even just holding an instrument could help you get a date. A found that men who approached 300 women and asked for their number were more successful when they carried a guitar case, as opposed to a gym bag or nothing at all. Practice mindfulness Australian researchers undergrads participating in a speed-dating session, and found that tended to receive higher attractiveness ratings from women. Hunter-gatherer risks included mountain biking, deep-sea scuba diving, and extreme rollerblading. Low- and no-risk behaviours included biking along paved paths and carefully handling chemicals in a chemistry-lab class. Results showed that women said they would be more attracted to men who engaged in hunter-gatherer risks — the kinds that were similar to risks faced by ancestral humans. Women said they would be less attracted to men who engaged in modern risks, which might seem just plain dumb. Over the next few days, the men who used the scented spray reported higher self-confidence and felt more attractive. When a group of women were shown silent videos of the men, they found those who were wearing scented spray more attractive, even though they obviously couldn't smell them. The researchers determined that the men using the scented spray displayed more confident behavior, which in turn made them more attractive. Chow down on garlic The smell of garlic on your breath is generally regarded as an instant romance killer. But a recent , from researchers at Charles University and the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic and the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom, suggests a different story when it comes to body odor. In one study, eight men ate a slice of bread with cheese and 12 grams of fresh garlic; another eight ate bread and cheese without any garlic. For the next 12 hours, the men wore cotton pads under their armpits and were instructed not to use any deodorants or fragrances. The following day, all the men returned to the lab, where 40 women sniffed the pads and rated the odor on pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity, and intensity. Results showed that the garlic group was rated more pleasant and attractive and less masculine and intense. Do volunteer work Ay from UK researchers found that women find men more appealing when they do. About 30 women looked at a picture of a man with a brief description of his hobbies, which sometimes included volunteer work. The same procedure was repeated with about 30 men looking at a picture of a woman. Everyone rated how attractive they found the person pictured for a short- and long-term relationship. Both genders rated the person pictured as more attractive for a long-term relationship when they were described as a volunteer — but the effect was stronger for women rating men. PRESS PICTURE Show off your scars That scar on your chin from when you fell off a bike could help you attract a mate. In a , researchers at the University of Liverpool and the University of Stirling took photos of 24 male and 24 female undergrads. They digitally manipulated half of the images so the subjects appeared to have facial scars — for example, a line on the person's forehead that looked like the result of an injury. Then the researchers recruited another group of about 200 heterosexual male and female undergrads to rate all the people pictured based on attractiveness for both short- and long-term relationships. Results showed that men with scars appeared slightly more attractive for short-term relationships than men without scars. Women, on the other hand, were perceived as equally attractive regardless of whether they had scarred faces. Use open body language in your online dating photo — from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Northwestern University — suggests that we're more attracted to people who display In one experiment included in the study, the researchers created profiles for three men and three women on a GPS-based dating app. In one set of profiles, the men and women were pictured in contractive positions — for example, by crossing their arms or hunching their shoulders. Results showed that people in expansive postures were selected as potential dates more often than those in contractive postures. This effect was slightly larger for women selecting men. Look proud A study revealed a curious finding: Heterosexual men and women prefer different emotional expressions on potential mates. In one experiment included in the study, researchers had nearly 900 North American adults look at photos of opposite-sex individuals online. The researchers were specifically comparing people's perceptions of expressions of pride, happiness, shame, and neutrality other people had already identified the emotion behind the expression in the photo. For women evaluating men, the most appealing expression was pride, and the least appealing was happiness. Even weirder, an expression of shame was relatively attractive on both men and women. Read the original article on. Follow Business Insider UK on. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.
