Does a Splash of Red Make a Woman More Attractive?
Angelina in Red Lipstick Dan MacMedan/WireImageAnd if so, why? At the Oscars this year, Angelina Jolie paired a leggy black dress with bombshell hair. What stood out, though, was her bright red lipstick. I thought she looked great, and--according to science--most of the men watching agreed. In 2008, psychologist Andrew Elliot at the University of Rochester and colleagues showed that men perceive women in red to be more attractive and sexually desirable than those wearing other colors. Two years later, Elliot documented that men sit closer to women in red and ask them more intimate questions. One thing Elliot hadn't answered--until now--is why a lady in red is so hard to resist. In his new study, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Elliot posits that men see women in red as ready and willing, and that this sexual receptiveness is what makes them attractive and desirable. The most obvious...