You might want to forget about putting perfume on special occasions. Chicago’s Smell and Taste Research Center recently discovered that the scent of pumpkin pie mixed with lavender increased men’s penile blood flow more than 23 other fragrances. Why? The combination might conjure up memories of a pleasure-filled meal or simply make men feel extra-relaxed.
University of British Columbia researchers asked two groups of men to stand on two separate bridges — one reassuringly sturdy and another that was long, shaky and suspended 230 feet in the air. Next, they sent a beautiful female assistant to ask the two groups to fill out a survey. Those on the precarious bridge gave more risqué answers to her questions. Feeling threatened is linked to arousal in the brain, which may have spurred those men to open up.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology researchers invited men to rate pictures of women wearing different colored clothing. Guys said the ladies in crimson were most attractive. It might have something to do with biology. Female humans and other primates go red in the face before ovulating, which attracts males during this most fertile time.
A new study found that you may want to focus on toning your arms. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, showed male volunteers videos of women. Men consistently rated those with long arms among the most attractive. The theory behind the results: Long arms may make a woman look slimmer, indicate that she’s highly functional or suggest she gives great hugs.
Guys prefer coordinating lingerie because it shows the woman has put extra energy into something no one gets to see but him, says relationship expert April Masini, author of Think & Date Like a Man. Want more allure? Choose lingerie in red.
It has been said men prefer thicker thighs. One evolutionary explanation from scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Santa Barbara is that thicker hips and thighs contain omega-3 fatty acids, which can pass from an expecting woman’s bloodstream to her placenta, nourishing babies’ brain.
Kailen Rosenberg, a relationship expert and founder of matchmaking firm Kai-len Love and Life Architects notes that male coworkers are more likely to pursue female colleagues who frequent the same restaurants they do. “As much as men feel they want change, they actually respond strongest to stability and familiarity,” she adds.
Certain facial and body proportions can make a woman more attractive to men. But men’s own faces may affect this, since they fall for women whose features are similarly proportioned to their own, says Rosenberg. Homogamy, a theory that we mate with people who are similar to us in some way, may be right. Interesting data.
The propinquity effect – a term used to describe the proximity between two people, both psychological and physical – is key to long-term attraction. The more you see and interact with a person, the more you want to continue with the relationship.