The Little Dating Tip That Works For Everyone

You know how bullfighters will use a bright red flag to attract the attention of a bull? Apparently, we humans have a similar reaction to the primary color. And because both men and women have been proven to have psychological and physiological reactions to the color, wearing red might be the simplest, most universal piece of dating advice ever.

Not that you can simply slip on a red sweater and become the most sought after person in the room: your personality is still going to have to do the majority of the work. But for people who live in metropolitan areas, a huge part of the dating game is simply getting up at bat. If you want to ensure that you get noticed in a crowd, might as well use Mother Nature to your benefit.

For Men

Women are sexually attracted to men who wear red: it’s that simple. A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that “…in the United States, England, Germany and China, women found men more appealing when they were either pictured wearing red or framed in red, compared with other colors.”

Red has long been a color associated with sex and passion, but the cultural connotations stem from basic animal behavior: not to be too blunt about it, but red is the color associated with sex organs. For many primates, the color red is only displayed by the alpha male. On some level, humans still equate the color with power and dominance (two very sexy qualities).

But can wearing a red t-shirt really have that strong of an impact on your level of attractiveness? Yes, yes it can.

“Women in a follow-up study perceived men wearing red T-shirts to be significantly more likely to be high in status than men wearing blue T-shirts, in addition to the men in red seeming more generally and sexually attractive.”

And because men are also attracted to the color red, the advice still stands for gay guys.

Get shopping, dudes.

For Women

For centuries, red has been known as the color of seduction, and frequently associated with passionate, wanton women. (It’s not the yellow letter, but rather the scarlet letter for a reason.) But once again, the color red goes far beyond its cultural connotations.

According to an article published today on eFlirtExpert, “Psychological studies find that red is a stimulant for men, boosting arousal levels and their desire to chase.”

A study conducted by the University of Rochester in 2008 showed that men are in general more sexually attracted to women who wear red, and these findings once again go back to primates: female baboons and chimpanzees redden while approaching ovulation, a clear sign to males that it’s time to mate.

It might seem like a stretch to connect jungle mating habits to wearing a red dress to the bar, but don’t overlook the power of natural mating cues.

According to the study:

“Our research demonstrates a parallel in the way that human and nonhuman male primates respond to red. In doing so, our findings confirm what many women have long suspected and claimed – that men act like animals in the sexual realm. As much as men might like to think that they respond to women in a thoughtful, sophisticated manner, it appears that at least to some degree, their preferences and predilections are, in a word, primitive.”

Me-ow.

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