Do you think you’re attractive to women? Do you know you’re attractive? Maybe you have studied the laws of attraction and tried very hard to get where you are today, or perhaps you were just born with the right physical assets and are fortunate enough to just have a personality that seems likable to most people.
But for the most part, boys and men are at a loss when it comes to knowing exactly what a woman wants, and of course there is no exact science that can tell us what all women want. Nonetheless, we are going to try our best to find out what many women find attractive and maybe help a few of you guys out.
Be nice.
An article in Men’s Health magazine that cited various studies said that in order to attract a woman men must be disarming in some ways. Yep, what that means is just be nice or do things that might make you seem more harmless, more sensitive, more caring.
The article talked about a study in France in which men who showed they could interact with babies were popular, whether ladies saw men doing that in public or in photographs. We are told that women who saw men playing with babies were three times more likely to get someone’s phone number, so now you know who you should take as your wingman – a wing-baby.We are joking of course, please only interact with babies if it’s part of your regular routine.
That same French study said if you don’t have a baby at hand, try a dog. It said men who walked with dogs were more likely to have success talking with women in the street. Again, this is because having a dog can show a degree of sensitivity and caring, never a bad thing for a long-term relationship.
We should say that it might work better if you look like you are a loving owner of your dog. Another study, this time from Cornell University, said if a woman sees you being nice to others, again either in real life or online, they might be more willing to talk to you.
That research said men who can be seen helping others, perhaps doing charitable work or cleaning up the local park, can come across as caring and therefore attractive. So, first and foremost, show you have a sensitive side. Be helpful, be nice and be warm.
This might go down better than looking like a guy who only cares about his highly-prized abs. By the way, one dating survey we found revealed that men who can’t stop taking selfies are not always looked upon well. Make sure you don’t go overboard and make the woman think you are a self-centered Narcissist.
Stay in shape.
Do you need to spend half your life lifting weights to be attractive? According to a study at UCLA, not really, but being a little bit built according to that study was better than being thin. That same study said slightly muscular men were more attractive than guys with very large muscles.
But wait, in 2017 The Guardian cited a study in which 160 women were asked to rate pictures of men’s bodies. The faces of the men were not shown. What this study revealed was in fact that just about all the women preferred a strong-looking man.
“We weren’t surprised that women found physically strong men attractive … what did surprise us was just how powerful the effect was,” said the scientist that led the study. He added, “Our data couldn’t find even a single woman that preferred weaker or feminine male bodies.” That study said you didn’t have to be a hulk, nor did you have to be totally chiseled, but women just about always preferred a strong-looking guy, even if he was a bit overweight.
Hold yourself well and smile like you mean it.
You don’t always have to be the most handsome fella in the world to attract a woman, but it helps to let her know you are confident. In the book, “Body Language Secrets: A Guide During Courtship & Dating” it is said that when you walk you should walk with purpose.
Stand up straight and look like you know where you are going. Body language is important, and according to the “Journal of Nonverbal Behavior” smiling always helps. But we are told don’t grimace and don’t flash a quick grin. Only smile when you mean it and let that smile spread across your face.
Keeping up appearances.
According to Psychology Today, you can’t go wrong if you not only put time and effort into keeping your body healthy, but you should try and dress well. “One reason that dress is important for men is that it projects social status and women who reject a man in a Burger King uniform might be willing to go out with someone in medical scrubs,” said the article.
It said that status is attractive to many women, so yep, looking like you have money to spare might not be a bad thing. In 2018, a study published in Evolution and Human Behavior, told us salary matters. That study showed women from North America, China and Europe photographs of men with information about their salary.
They then changed the salary and looked at if their approval rating dropped or increased. “A man can move himself two points higher on the attractiveness scale we used if his salary increases by a factor of ten,” said one of the study authors. “For a female to achieve the same two-point effect, her salary would need to increase by 10,000 times.”
Look sharp.
Ok, so it might help to have some cash, but wealth is a relative thing. Maybe you can date someone whose wealth isn’t much different from yours. In 2018, The Atlantic published research that told us many people date “aspirationally”, meaning they want someone out of their league.
If having leagues sounds unfair, a professor of sociology at the University of Michigan said just get used to it because they exist and aren’t going anywhere. The study found that on dating sites women were way more selective than men.
Men replied to messages 80 percent of the time and women only 20 percent. It said that indeed there was a “hierarchy of desirability” but it also said if men are persistent sometimes they can move up this hierarchy.
That study, like many others, showed us that while women were more successful in their 20s, many women were attracted to older men. But success means a lot, and we found two separate British studies in recent years that said men who appeared in photos to be of high status seemed to have the most luck on dating sites.
Look older than you are.
Men sometimes grow a beard to look older, but we are told by various sources that if you do grow one you don’t have to look like a Greek philosopher of days gone by. A light beard is preferable to most women.
We are also told about something called the “George Clooney Effect.” A 2010 study consisting of 3,770 heterosexual adults found that women often like older guys, and when women are more financially independent they seem to like older guys even more.
There is no magic age gap, and it seems that if there is a big age gap there is more likelihood of divorce. Still, from what we can see, many women are willing to have a relationship with an older guy. It doesn’t happen often the other way around, but it can happen.
Being bald isn’t as much of a problem!
Going bald can really get a young man down, and some guys will go to extraordinary lengths to stop hair loss or hide it. You can find articles out there stating that bald is beautiful, but that might not always be the case.
While women will differ greatly on what they think about a hairless or near-hairless head, scientific studies tell us that bald men are generally seen as a little bit more dominant and more agreeable than their hairy cousins.
In another study, they were seen as looking older, but also being more masculine and stronger. In another study, 76 percent of women said they didn’t mind at all a bald man, but get this, most didn’t like it when the guy tried to hide it. As Psychology Today writes, “The message from this research seems clear: If you are going bald, embrace it.”
Being taller than her.
When we talk about the ideal height, it’s more about the difference than just being a certain height. In the UK, research tells us that most women wanted a man over 164cm (5 feet 4 inches) and most men didn’t want a woman taller than 182cm (6 feet), but in general, most women want a man taller than them – just not a lot taller than them.
According to an article in Business Insider, which cited lots of research, men tend to be about 12.7cm (5 inches) taller than women on average in most countries. While research showed most men wanted a woman slightly shorter, it seems that being around the same height wasn’t much of a problem, either.
Having a good sense of humor.
There are a plethora of studies that tell us the cliché is true, that women often fall for men that are funny to them. One serious study about attractiveness told us that, “Individuals, particularly men, expressing humor were rated as more desirable than non-humorous individuals for a serious relationship and marriage, but only when these individuals were physically attractive.”
Another study in France put this to the test and arranged for a bunch of guys to be stood in a bar. One of the group would then tell a funny joke which would make all his friends laugh. They would sometimes change the man telling the joke, and then after, ask the women in the bar to rate the guys.
The joke tellers were three times more likely to get a phone number based on their rating for attractiveness and intelligence. An article in Live Science told us the same, that scientific research shows that humor is an attractive trait for men.
In another test, men and women from a university in the USA were monitored while speed-dating. The research showed that while humor didn’t always win someone over, when there was a complete lack of humor it was always seen as bad.
Wherever you look, and we looked at many studies, humor was a winner for men. And when two people laugh together it’s a wonderful thing. As one researcher said in an interview, “When two people are laughing at the same thing they are basically saying ‘I share your perspective, your values, and I certainly share what you think is amusing.”
Being a musician.
Maybe you should become a musician. One French study found that men who walked around with a guitar were more likely to get someone’s phone number than men who walked around with nothing at all, or even a gym bag. If you can’t be creative, be mindful.
A study in Australia cited by the Independent newspaper in the UK, told us that mindful men were attractive to women. Or perhaps you are a rougher type of character. Maybe that works, too.
A 2009 study undertaken by the University of Liverpool and the University of Stirling took photos of men and doctored some of them so that the men had facial scars. What happened? It seems the women liked the men with the scars, or at least it said they liked these men for short-term relationships.
These are just some of the things that might make a man more attractive, but we are sure you might be able to add a few more details to this list.
