Neuroscience
Use chat-up lines that reveal your helpfulness, generosity, athleticism, and culture. Avoid jokes, empty compliments and sexual references.
If you're male and planning to ask a girl out for a Valentine's date tomorrow night - try touching them lightly on the arm as you make the proposition. Research suggests the gesture will make you appear more dominant and attractive.
If you've recently ended a relationship - cheer up, you could benefit from the experience.
If you're a woman of a larger size looking to attract a potential valentine, try arranging a late dinner date. Research shows that hungry men are attracted to larger women.
Sign up to play as goalkeeper or striker for your local football team. Research shows women consistently rate players in these positions as more attractive - even without knowing the position they play in.
When trying to impress a potential Valentine, get your female friends to smile at you. Research shows this will make you appear more attractive to other women.
If you're good-looking and rich, it might be wise to play down your wealth. Research has shown that women rate men who are good-looking and of medium status as more attractive than men who are good-looking and high status.
Editor's note: Apologies for the male, heterocentric bias. Any other research-based suggestions are welcome via comments.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- The Digest Guide To ... Human Attraction
10 years of the Research DigestDress like the person you want to date. If there's someone in your class or workplace who you'd like to get to know better, try making yourself resemble them in some way. Obviously you don't want to take this...
- The Power Of A Light Touch On The Arm
A good-looking man approached 120 women in a night club over a period of three weeks, and asked them to dance. It was in the name of science – the man was an assistant to the psychologist Nicolas Guegen. Remarkably, of the 60 women who he touched lightly...
- The Downside Of Being Good-looking And Wealthy
A rich, good-looking man seeking a wife might do well to play down his wealth. That's the implication of a study by John Lycett and colleagues suggesting that some women are wary of men who are both attractive and wealthy. One hundred and eighty-six...
- You Hunky Smile Magnet
It seems beauty isn’t all in the eye of the beholder after all. Researchers have shown women rate a man as more attractive after they’ve seen another woman smiling at him. By contrast, being a jealous bunch, male observers rate a man as less attractive...
- Happy Valentine's Day!
Looking for a date for Valentine's day? Christopher Bale and colleagues have just published a study in Personality and Individual Differences on what 142 female and 63 male undergraduates thought of 40 chat up lines as featured in mini stories about...
Neuroscience
Valentine's tips based on recent psychology research
Use chat-up lines that reveal your helpfulness, generosity, athleticism, and culture. Avoid jokes, empty compliments and sexual references.If you're male and planning to ask a girl out for a Valentine's date tomorrow night - try touching them lightly on the arm as you make the proposition. Research suggests the gesture will make you appear more dominant and attractive.
If you've recently ended a relationship - cheer up, you could benefit from the experience.
If you're a woman of a larger size looking to attract a potential valentine, try arranging a late dinner date. Research shows that hungry men are attracted to larger women.
Sign up to play as goalkeeper or striker for your local football team. Research shows women consistently rate players in these positions as more attractive - even without knowing the position they play in.
When trying to impress a potential Valentine, get your female friends to smile at you. Research shows this will make you appear more attractive to other women.
If you're good-looking and rich, it might be wise to play down your wealth. Research has shown that women rate men who are good-looking and of medium status as more attractive than men who are good-looking and high status.
Editor's note: Apologies for the male, heterocentric bias. Any other research-based suggestions are welcome via comments.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- The Digest Guide To ... Human Attraction
10 years of the Research DigestDress like the person you want to date. If there's someone in your class or workplace who you'd like to get to know better, try making yourself resemble them in some way. Obviously you don't want to take this...
- The Power Of A Light Touch On The Arm
A good-looking man approached 120 women in a night club over a period of three weeks, and asked them to dance. It was in the name of science – the man was an assistant to the psychologist Nicolas Guegen. Remarkably, of the 60 women who he touched lightly...
- The Downside Of Being Good-looking And Wealthy
A rich, good-looking man seeking a wife might do well to play down his wealth. That's the implication of a study by John Lycett and colleagues suggesting that some women are wary of men who are both attractive and wealthy. One hundred and eighty-six...
- You Hunky Smile Magnet
It seems beauty isn’t all in the eye of the beholder after all. Researchers have shown women rate a man as more attractive after they’ve seen another woman smiling at him. By contrast, being a jealous bunch, male observers rate a man as less attractive...
- Happy Valentine's Day!
Looking for a date for Valentine's day? Christopher Bale and colleagues have just published a study in Personality and Individual Differences on what 142 female and 63 male undergraduates thought of 40 chat up lines as featured in mini stories about...