Hair Color and Courtship: Blond Women Received More Courtship Solicitations and Redhead Men Received More Refusals
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Hair Color and Courtship: Blond Women Received More Courtship Solicitations and Redhead Men Received More Refusals Nicolas Guéguen
Received: 14 January 2012 / Accepted: 28 June 2012 / Published online: 8 September 2012 # National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India 2012
Abstract Previous research on the effect of hair color on people’s evaluation and behavior has revealed discrepant results and the real effect of both male and female hair color on their mating attractiveness has never been tested. In Study 1, female confederates wearing blond, brown, black or red colored wigs were observed while sitting in a nightclub. In Study 2, male confederates wearing different colored wigs asked women in a nightclub for a dance. It was found that blond women were more frequently approached by men whereas blond males did not receive more acceptances to their requests. However, in both conditions, red hair was associated with less attractiveness. Evolutionary theory and differences in mating preferences are used to explain the blond hair effect. Scarcity of red-haired individuals in the population and negative stereotypes associated with red hair are used to explain the negative effect of red hair. Keywords Hair color . Blonds . Attractiveness . Courtship behavior It has been reported that black and natural dark hair color accounts for more than 90 % of all natural hair whereas blond hair accounts for only 2 % worldwide (Gray 2008) and red hair accounts for only 1 % worldwide (Heckert and Best 1997). When we examined the literature concerning the effect of hair color on people’s perceptions, discrepant results were found. Feinman and Gill (1978) found that men reported a preference for women with a light color. Similarly, Ayton (2005) found that men believed blond-haired women to be more attractive than brunettes and redheads. However, Matz N. Guéguen (*) Institut de Management de Bretagne-Sud, Université de Bretagne-Sud, Rue de la loi, 56000 Vannes, France e-mail: [email protected]
and Hinsz (2000) did not find any difference when asking female and male students about their personal preferences and the perceived preferences of others for particular hair colors. More recently Swami et al. (2008a) reported that blondes were rated as less physically attractive than brunettes. Swami et al. (2008b) reported the same results in six of eight countries surveyed. These differences in people’s evaluations could be explained by variations in design and methodology. Swami et al. (2008a, b) used line drawings with blond or dark colored hair to represent their female stimuli whereas some other studies used photos, descriptions or self-reports (Feinman and Gill 1978; Matz and Hinsz 2000). When examining the effect of hair color on behavior, the same discrepant results were found. Juni and Roth (1985) asked male and female confederates to approach men and women in the street and to solicit them for spare change. Confederates either wore brunette or blond wigs. Results showed that the hair color of the male and fe
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