Why do women like assertive men

In a study from University of California, Los Angeles, women looked at pictures of shirtless men and indicated which ones seemed like they would make the best long- and short-term partners. Results showed that women were more likely to want short-term relationships with the guys who had big muscles. Characteristics like muscularity are "cues of genes that increase offspring viability or reproductive success," say authors David A.

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.

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. As psychologist and writer Scott Barry Kaufman notes, the halo effect works in other ways too. In a Chinese study, more than 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. A cross-cultural study — 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. Multiple studies indicate that women are more attracted to men who can make them laugh. In one small French study , 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.

A experiment from the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel and the University of Michigan, concluded that owning a pet signals that you're nurturing and capable of making long-term commitments. It can also help you appear more relaxed, approachable, and happy.

Not into pet ownership? Simply being seen with a dog can make you seem more dateable. In a French study from , a 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.

In a study , researchers at the University of Sussex asked about 1, 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 French study found that men who approached 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. Australian researchers recently studied undergrads participating in a speed-dating session, and found that mindful men tended to receive higher attractiveness ratings from women.

After each interaction with an opposite-sex partner, students privately indicated how "sexy" they found their partner and how much they'd like to date that person. Results showed that men were generally more drawn to physically attractive women. Independent coders had rated the students' attractiveness beforehand. But women were generally more attracted to mindful men.

A study led by researchers at the University of Alaska at Anchorage found that women are attracted to men who take what the researchers call "hunter-gatherer risks. More than undergrads filled out questionnaires about how attractive they would find a partner who engaged in certain risky behaviours, as opposed to a partner who engaged in low- or no-risk behaviours.

Hunter-gatherer risks included mountain biking, deep-sea scuba diving, and extreme rollerblading. 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.

Simply knowing that you're wearing a new fragrance can make you act more confident, and even make you seem more attractive to other people. In a small study published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science , researchers gave one group of male undergraduates a spray with antimicrobial ingredients and fragrance oil, and provided another group with an unscented spray that didn't contain antimicrobial ingredients.

Over the next few days, the men who used the scented spray reported higher self-confidence and felt more attractive. The smell of garlic on your breath is generally regarded as an instant romance killer.

But a recent series of studies , 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.

A stud y from UK researchers found that women find men more appealing when they do volunteer work. About 30 women looked at a picture of a man with a brief description of his hobbies, which sometimes included volunteer work.

We found that strong feminists rated men as more patronizing and undermining than traditional women did. It seems that even staunch feminists may prefer a chivalrous mate who picks up the check on a first date or walks closer to the curb on a sidewalk. In this time of fraught gender relations , our findings may provide reassurance for women who are confused about how to feel towards a man who acts chivalrous, and well-meaning men who wonder whether they should change their behavior towards women.

But several interesting questions remain. Does benevolent sexism always undermine women? It might depend on context. A male being overly helpful to a female co-worker in a patronizing way might hurt her ability to project professional competence.

Understanding these nuances may allow us to reduce the negative effects of benevolent sexism without requiring women to reject the actual good things that can arise from this behavior.

Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth. Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. What sort of signal does holding a door for a woman send?

Kupfer , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Is it an innocuous act of courtesy? Or is it a sexist insult to her strength and competence?