Lust is complicated, but studies show that these 19 factors make men more appealing to women

Romantic attraction is a complicated phenomenon that scientists have yet to fully comprehend.

However, through research and experimentation, they’ve come up with a variety of theories about what attracts one person to another.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the most compelling scientific findings about the characteristics and behaviors that make men more appealing to women.

What’s the best part? None of the items on this list necessitate cosmetic surgery or a major personality change. We’re talking about small changes like acting nicer and switching deodorant.

Continue reading for easy ways to improve your dating game.

1. Look for universal flirtation signals

According to anthropologist and best-selling author Helen E. Fisher of Rutgers University, women all over the world express their interest in a remarkably similar sequence of expressions.

“First, the woman smiles at her admirer and raises her brows in a quick, jerky motion as she opens her eyes wide to gaze at him.” She then lowers her eyelids, tilts her head to the side, and looks away. She frequently covers her face with her hands, nervously giggling as she retreats behind her palms. This sequential flirting gesture is so distinct that [German ethologist Irenaus] Eibl-Eibesfeldt believes it is innate, a human female courtship ploy that evolved to signal sexual interest eons ago. “

2. Look for someone who is “in your league”

Men — and women — are drawn to people who are equally attractive to them.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley examined the behavior of 60 heterosexual male and 60 heterosexual female users of an online dating site in one study. While the majority of users preferred to contact highly attractive people, they were more likely to receive a response if the person was about as attractive as they were (as judged by independent raters).

“If you go for someone roughly [equal] to you in attractiveness, you avoid two things,” said Mark Sergeant, a psychologist at Nottingham Trent University who was not involved in the study. “You’re worried about them going off and having affairs if they’re much better-looking than you.” If they are less appealing, you are concerned that you could do better.”

3. Present yourself as a high-status individual.

According to a 2010 study conducted by the University of Wales Institute, men pictured with a Silver Bentley Continental GT were perceived to be far more attractive than those pictured with a Red Ford Fiesta ST.

A 2014 Cardiff Metropolitan University study discovered that men pictured in a luxury apartment were rated more attractive than those in a control group.

Surprisingly, men do not appear to be more attracted to women when they are shown in a high-status context.

4. Look more mature

Psychologists refer to this as the “George Clooney Effect.”

According to a 2010 study of 3,770 heterosexual adults, women frequently prefer older men. Women said they liked older men more as they became more financially independent.

“We believe that greater financial independence gives women more confidence in their partner choices and attracts them to powerful, attractive older men,” said lead author and University of Dundee psychologist Fhionna Moore in a statement.

According to evolutionary psychologists, younger women and older men frequently pair up because, while fertility in women lasts from puberty to menopause, it can last well into midlife for many men. As men age, society provides them with more opportunities to accumulate status and resources.

5. Grow a short beard

In a 2013 study conducted by researchers at the University of New South Wales, 177 heterosexual men and 351 heterosexual women were asked to look at images of 10 men in one of four states: clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble, or full beard. Participants rated the men on a variety of characteristics, including attractiveness.

Heavy stubble was voted the most attractive beard length by women.

“Not only does facial hair correlate with maturity and masculinity, but also with dominance and aggression,” authors Barnaby J. Dixson and Robert C. Brooks write.

“An intermediate level of beardedness is most appealing,” they continue.

6. Muscle up (but not too much)

In a 2007 study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, 286 women viewed photographs of shirtless men and indicated which ones they thought would make the best long- and short-term partners.

Women were more likely to want short-term relationships with men with large muscles, according to the findings.

What evolutionary signal could be at work here?

Muscularity, for example, is a “cue of genes that increases offspring viability or reproductive success,” according to authors David A. Frederick and Martie G. Haselton.

But Frederick and Haselton discovered something else: Men with less muscle mass were thought to be better suited for long-term relationships. So, if you want to catch a woman’s attention and keep it, you might want to avoid going overboard.

7. Be considerate

The halo effect, a bias in which you unconsciously take one aspect of someone as a proxy for their overall character, is one of the best documented findings in psychology. It’s why we believe beautiful people are good at their jobs even when they aren’t.

The halo effect, as noted by psychologist and author Scott Barry Kaufman, also works in other ways.

In a 2014 Chinese study, more than 100 young people rated the attractiveness of images of men and women’s faces. Each image was paired with a word that described either a positive personality trait, such as kindness or honesty, or a negative personality trait, such as being evil or mean.

According to the findings, people who were described as having positive traits were rated as more attractive.

“Even though beauty is an assessment of fitness value, there is no reason why fitness assessment must be purely physical,” Kaufman writes, implying that acting can make you appear more attractive.

8. Put on red

A cross-cultural study conducted in 2010 with participants from China, England, Germany, and the United States discovered that women are most attracted to men dressed in red.

In one experiment from the study, 55 female undergrads rated the attractiveness of a man wearing either a red or green shirt in a color photo.

Yes, the man was rated significantly more attractive when he wore a red shirt. When researchers compared the red shirt to other colors of shirts, the results were similar.

Surprisingly, most participants were unaware that the man’s clothing color influenced their perceptions of his attractiveness.

9. Make your companion laugh

According to numerous studies, women are more attracted to men who can make them laugh. Surprisingly, men are not more attracted to women who can make them laugh.

In one 2006 study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, researchers asked undergraduate students (who did not specify their sexual orientation) to rate the ability of their partner to make them laugh and their own ability to make their partner laugh.

Women valued their partner’s sense of humor as well as their own ability to make their partner laugh, whereas men valued only their own ability to make their partner laugh.

10. Walk the dog

In a 2014 study conducted by Israel’s Ruppin Academic Center and the University of Michigan, 100 Israeli women read vignettes about men.

Some of the men were referred to as “cads” because they cheated on their partners and got into fights. The other men were described as stereotypical “dads” who worked hard at their jobs and cared for their children.

Whenever a cad in the story had a dog, women rated him as a better long-term partner than a cad who didn’t have a dog. Cads with dogs were even thought to be more attractive than fathers with dogs.

The researchers came to the conclusion that having a pet indicates that you are nurturing and capable of making long-term commitments. It can also make you appear more at ease, approachable, and joyful.

11. Play some good music

In a 2014 study, researchers at the University of Sussex asked approximately 1,500 women (average age 28) to listen to simple and complex pieces of music and rate the composer’s attractiveness.

The findings revealed that women preferred more complex music and would choose the composer of more complex music as a long-term partner.

12. Practice mindfulness

Recently, Australian researchers studied undergrads taking part in a speed-dating session and discovered that mindful men received higher attractiveness ratings from women.

Before the session, 91 students were asked to complete a mindfulness questionnaire in which they indicated their level of agreement with statements such as:

• “I perceive my feelings and emotions without having to react to them.”
• “I notice changes in my body, such as how fast or slow my breathing is.”
• “I’m good at finding words to express my emotions.”

Students privately indicated how “sexy” they found their opposite-sex partner and how much they wanted to date that person after each interaction.

Men were generally more drawn to physically attractive women, according to the findings. (Independent coders had previously rated the students’ attractiveness.) However, women were generally more attracted to thoughtful men.

13. Take part in extreme sports (carefully)

A 2014 study led by researchers at the University of Alaska at Anchorage discovered that women are drawn to men who take “hunter-gatherer risks.”

More than 230 college students completed questionnaires about how attractive they would find a partner who engaged in certain risky behaviors versus a partner who engaged in low- or no-risk behaviors.

Mountain biking, deep-sea scuba diving, and extreme rollerblading were among the hunter-gatherer dangers. Plagiarizing an academic paper, carelessly handling chemicals in a lab, and failing to update virus-protection software on your computer were all examples of “modern” risks.

Low- and no-risk behaviors included biking on paved paths and handling chemicals with care in a chemistry lab class.

According to the findings, women said they would be more attracted to men who engaged in hunter-gatherer risks — risks similar to those faced by ancestral humans. Women said they would be less attracted to men who took modern risks, which may appear to be stupid.

14. Use scented deodorant

Simply knowing you’re wearing a new fragrance can make you appear more confident and even more attractive to others.

In a small study published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science in 2009, researchers gave one group of male undergraduates an antimicrobial spray with fragrance oil and another group an unscented spray with no antimicrobial ingredients. Over the next few days, the men who used the scented spray reported feeling more confident and attractive.

What’s strange about it? When a group of women saw silent videos of men, they found those wearing scented spray to be more attractive, even though they couldn’t smell them. The researchers discovered that men who used the scented spray exhibited more confident behavior, which made them more attractive.

15. Garlic is delicious

Garlic on your breath is widely regarded as an instant romance killer. When it comes to body odor, however, a recent series of studies from researchers at Charles University and the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic, as well as the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom, suggests a different story.

In one study, eight men consumed a slice of bread with cheese and 12 grams of fresh garlic, while another eight consumed bread and cheese without any garlic. The men were instructed not to use deodorants or fragrances for the next 12 hours while wearing cotton pads under their armpits.

The next day, all of the men returned to the lab, where 40 women sniffed the pads and rated the odor in terms of pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity, and intensity. The garlic group was rated as more pleasant and attractive, and less masculine and intense.

16. Perform volunteer work

According to a 2013 study conducted by UK researchers, women find men more appealing when they volunteer.

About 30 women examined a photograph of a man with a brief description of his hobbies, which occasionally included volunteer work. The procedure was repeated with about 30 men looking at a woman’s picture. Everyone rated how attractive the person pictured was for both a short-term and long-term relationship.

When described as a volunteer, both genders rated the person pictured as more attractive for a long-term relationship — but the effect was stronger for women rating men.

17. Display your scars

That scar on your chin from a bike accident could help you attract a mate.

In a 2009 study, researchers from the Universities of Liverpool and Stirling photographed 24 male and 24 female undergraduates. Half of the images were digitally manipulated so that the subjects appeared to have facial scars, such as a line on the person’s forehead that appeared to be the result of an injury.

The researchers then enlisted the help of another group of about 200 heterosexual male and female undergrads to rate all of the people in the pictures on their attractiveness for both short- and long-term relationships.

Men with scars were found to be slightly more attractive for short-term relationships than men without scars. Women, on the other hand, were thought to be equally attractive regardless of whether their faces were scarred.

18. In your online dating photo, use open body language

According to a 2016 study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Northwestern University, we are more attracted to people with expansive body language.

In one study experiment, the researchers created profiles for three men and three women on a GPS-based dating app.

In one set of profiles, men and women were shown in contractive postures, such as crossing their arms or hunching their shoulders.

The same men and women were pictured in expansive positions in the other set of profiles, such as holding their arms up in a “V” or reaching out to grab something.

People in expansive postures were chosen as potential dates more frequently than those in contractive postures, according to the findings. This effect was slightly stronger when women chose men.

19. Take pride in yourself

A 2011 study conducted by the University of British Columbia revealed an intriguing finding: heterosexual men and women prefer different emotional expressions on potential mates.

Researchers had nearly 900 North American adults look at photos of opposite-sex people online in one experiment included in the study.

The researchers were comparing how people perceived expressions of pride, happiness, shame, and neutrality (other people had already identified the emotion behind the expression in the photo). For women evaluating men, pride was the most appealing expression, while happiness was the least appealing.

Even stranger, both men and women found a shameful expression attractive.