6. When it comes to pick-up lines, both men and women prefer it when people open with a simple “hi” or “hello,” or lead with an innocuous question (e.g., “Do you want to dance?”). Cutesy and crude pick-up lines (e.g., “Hey, baby. What’s your sign?” or “Do you wash your pants in Windex? I can really see myself in them!”) tend to be seen as pretty undesirable. For more examples of good and bad pick-up lines according to science, see here.
7. Attraction is a multi-sensory process. Who we’re attracted to depends not just on how another person looks, but also how they smell, how their mouth tastes, and so on. Check out this short video for a closer look at the role the senses play in attraction.
8. The things that heterosexual women find attractive in men vary across the menstrual cycle. Specifically, when women are at peak fertility, they tend to be attracted to “manlier” men (e.g., muscular guys with deep voices). Click here to learn more.
9. Heterosexual men tend to find women wearing red clothing more attractive than women wearing any other color [2]. Why? Some theorize that men have evolved a tendency to become aroused by this color because women’s bodies naturally become red/pink during sexual arousal (e.g., many women experience a “sex flush” or reddish rash that appears primarily on the chest during arousal). A recent study suggests that women may subconsciously capitalize on this by dressing in red when they are most fertile.
10. Our patterns of sexual attraction appear to change seasonally. For instance, heterosexual men report greater attraction to women’s bodies and breasts in the winter months than they do in the summer months. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but it may be because skin is more of a novelty in the winter when everyone is constantly bundled up. Learn more about this research here.
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[1] Penton-Voak, I. S., Perrett, D. I., & Peirce, J. W. (1999). Computer graphic studies of the role of facial similarity in judgements of attractiveness. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 18, 104-117.
[2] Elliot, A.J., & Niesta, D. (2008). Romantic red: Red enhances men’s attraction to women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1150-1164.
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This article originally appeared on Sex and Psychology
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#5 : Sorry, but this “research” is incredibly skewed. There’s a vast difference between availability in a dating profile and availability in a one-to-one interaction. In a dating profile it signals you’d go with anyone and we all like it to be “special about us” and seems it’s “to be not alone”. In one-to-one interaction, it IS specific and “about us”, so “hard to get” is most likely to be interpreted as “not interested” or d**che / b!tich.
I would never be attracted to a woman that looked like me, nor my parents.
That’s what you say now, Arch!! Give it time… it’s a sneaky thing. My brother married a woman of a different race who technically looked nothing like my mom but reminds me physically of my mom anyway.
😉
A person’s mannerisms, body kinetics, Styles of dress and speech……even if physical appearance is quite dissimilar can attract a person, when the style is similar to their own or a parent /family member’s.
I am still not attracted to women that look like me. haha
I said the same thing, and now a man who looks like my father, or someone who reminded me of my father that I used to date but it never worked out, likes me and I am actually attracted to him. I have no idea how it works. It’s interesting when you see couples and they look the same and have a dog that looks like them as well. Are we THAT narcissistic?