THE BEST
OF YOUR LIFE
CONNECTIONS
Do-gooder
Dating
Can giving back get you
a soul mate?
He’s
Red Hot
FROM TOP: ILLUSTRATION BY SHAW NIELSEN; ILLUSTRATION BY MARTHA RICH
This fiery color
drives women wild
Guys, lose the blue sweater. Women
think men in red are more appealing and
have higher social status than men in
other colors, a new multicultural study
finds. In a series of experiments,
researchers from New York’s University
of Rochester and other institutions
determined this effect on females by ask-
ing 283 women from the United States,
Germany, China, and England to view
photos of men. In one test, images were digitally altered so a man wore a red or
green T-shirt; in another, black-and-white photos were placed on red or white
backgrounds. In each case, women found men in red more sexually desirable
and powerful. Researchers say their reactions may be rooted in biology and
culture. Red is a sign of alpha-male dominance in some nonhuman primates,
and the hue has been used to indicate prosperity in Japan, China, and some
African countries. “It’s the color used to signify wealth and power, so it may
convey a subconscious signal to women that a man will be a better provider,”
says study coauthor Richard Gramzow, Ph.D., associate professor of psychol-
ogy at Syracuse University in New York. Researchers also confirm that women
aren’t conscious of their preference for red. So if you wear a cherry-colored
shirt on a date, you won’t look as if you’re trying too hard. —Melissa Gotthardt
Looking for romance this
Valentine’s Day? Helping others
might help your love life, according to a recent study conducted
at McMaster University in Ontario,
Canada. A researcher asked heterosexual participants to view a series
of photos and profiles, then say how
willing they’d be to enter a short- or
long-term relationship with each
person. When profiles indicated
that people were generous or altruistic (that they volunteered at food
banks, for instance), others viewed
them as more desirable for relationships—particularly the long-term
kind. “If you see that someone has a
concern for others, you get a sense
they’ll show concern for you,” says
study author Pat Barclay, Ph.D., an
assistant professor of psychology,
now at the University of Guelph in
Ontario. And if generosity makes us
attractive, it may even have evolutionary benefits, since it helps us
find mates. But you can’t depend on
good works alone: The study didn’t
investigate how important altruism is relative to other traits, says
Barclay. So if you’re not a good catch
all around, good deeds won’t necessarily lead to romance. —M.G.
AARP.ORG/MAGAZINE
