WASHINGTON — Want to be the life of the party? Wear red.
Men are drawn to the color and they hope that the wearer may be open to sexual advances. Plus, in the animal kingdom, red signals fertility. Science indicates it could be evolutionary or biological.
In a 2012 study at the University of Rochester, 25 men looked at pictures of women wearing red T-shirts and white ones.
They gave the red wearers scores of one to almost two points higher in attractiveness and being more open to pursuing sexual contact.
The same university updated the study recently but this time asked women how they felt about red.
The 200 women who participated in the study found they, too, were drawn to the color red, but not happily.
They were shown pictures of an attractive young woman in a red dress and a white one. Their strong reactions and comments to the red dress suggested they would keep their partners away from the wearer.
That research published in 2014 in the P ersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin. suggests women may feel threatened and believe the color red is an advertisement of availability.
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