A joint study conducted by researchers at St Andrews, Nottingham and Durham universities suggests that men who have a hint of redness on their facial features are more likely to be found attractive by women as they are seen as dominant alpha males. The researchers conducted the study to test whether the fact that red coloring among male primates, especially among fish and bird, which is associated with social dominance and mate selection was also true among humans.
The researchers presented computer pictures of men to a group of 45 women and asked them to manipulate so that they as attractive, dominant or aggressive as possible. The researchers found that majority of the women increased redness in the facial color, showing that red color in the face increased the dominance and attractiveness of a male. The study has been published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
“We have shown that increased redness enhances the appearance of dominance, aggression and attractiveness in men’s faces viewed by women. This is something we share with many other species. What’s more, females of these species prefer to mate with brighter, more colored males. But this is the first study in which this has been demonstrated in humans”, St Andrews researcher Professor David Perrett said.
Source-Medindia