Men find women in red more desirable, says study

Women in red seem more attractive to men, according to a new study from the University of Rochester.

"Red is an indicator of sexual receptivity," AOL News quoted Andrew Elliot, a psychology professor as saying.

Elliot and his colleagues Roger Feltman and Daniela Niesta Kayse told 23 male undergraduates that they were about to participate in a study that would simulate an online chat with women, but in reality was a study about whether the men would ask a girl wearing a red shirt more intimate questions.

They were shown either a photo of a woman wearing a red shirt, or of one in a green shirt. The men were then given a folder with 24 questions, and were instructed to choose five to ask the woman they'd seen in the photograph.

Guys who saw the woman in the red shirt asked predominantly more questions about getting her attention at a bar.

In another experiment, men were asked to talk to a woman. She wore either a red or a blue shirt. If she wore a red one, the guys tended to sit closer to her.

"Red is an aphrodisiac," said Elliot.

"These findings indicate that colour not only has aesthetic value but can carry meaning and impact psychological functioning in subtle, important and provocative ways," the researchers said.

The study was published this month in the European Journal of Social Psychology.

Photograph: A still from the movie Intolerable Cruelty