London - There has always been a certain fascination about a lady in red.
And the reason for the attraction is basic in the extreme, say psychologists.
Men think that a scarlet-clad woman is more likely to sleep with them on a first date.
A survey of 120 male students aged 18 to 21 discovered that most thought choosing to wear red meant a woman had “greater sexual intent” and was more likely to jump into bed with a man than someone who opted for more neutral colours, such as green, blue or white.
And the item in question does not need to be a revealing top or a sexy short skirt. Volunteers were asked to judge a woman’s sexual intent based only on the colour of an ordinary T-shirt.
The findings, published in the Journal of Social Psychology, confirm the powerful influence that the colour of clothing can have on how men perceive a member of the opposite sex.
Researchers at the University of South Brittany divided the students into four groups and asked them to look at an image of the same 20-year-old woman with the colour of her top altered for each group to red, blue, green or white.
The woman was judged to be most attractive when she was wearing the red top, followed by white, blue and finally green.
She was also judged, by some considerable margin, to be most likely to agree to sex when she wore red, followed by blue, green and white.
Dr Glenn Wilson, visiting professor of psychology at Gresham College in London, said research also shows men in red are more attractive to women because they are seen as having higher status.
“But women in red are attractive to men because of its passionate associations. These effects probably derive from the fact that red is a significant colour in nature, signalling danger and causing excitement.” - Daily Mail