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Listen Up, Ladies: Long, Lush Locks Lure Lovers
Reuters ^ | June 27, 2003 | E. J. Mundell

Posted on 06/28/2003 3:18:42 PM PDT by demlosers

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Halle Berry aside, most American men show an "overwhelming" preference for women sporting long, luscious hair compared to shorter cuts, researchers report.

Oh, and sorry, Madonna: men also seem to prefer brunettes over blondes, by a wide margin.

The findings are based on interviews with 50 men conducted by psychology researcher Dr. Kelley Kline, of Florida State University in Panama City, Florida. She and co-authors Dr. Colin Peeler and undergraduate student Kim Fazzone presented their findings earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, in Atlanta.

Numerous studies have examined the sexual appeal of various female facial characteristics or body types, but Kline said no one had looked at "perceptions of attractiveness based on hair length" until now.

In their study, the Florida team had 76 women and 50 men averaging 27 years of age rate the attractiveness of women depicted in 6 different photos.

Three of the photos were actually of the same young Caucasian woman, her hair altered by computer to short, medium and long lengths.

"We had a short-hair condition where the hair was above the ears, cropped close to the head," Kline explained in an interview with Reuters Health. "We (also) had the hair in a medium style ... just a little bit below the ears, and then we had the long-hair condition where it was at least 8 inches or more past the shoulders."

Otherwise, the woman's face and expression were exactly the same in each of the three pictures.

According to Kline, both men and women "overwhelmingly find the long hair length significantly more attractive than the short and the medium hair length."

She said the biological imperative to find a healthy, fertile mate may explain the finding, at least in men. One popular psychological theory holds that while women are driven to find moneyed, 'resource-rich' men, men are primarily looking for reproductive fitness in their mates.

"Hair is going to be a signal of that, because a younger woman will usually have longer, thicker hair," Kline explained.

On the other hand, when Kline's group asked women about hair-length preferences for men, the vast majority chose short or very short cuts. Since long hair is so closely linked to femininity, Fabio-like locks might signal to women that a man is somehow less virile or capable than his buzz-cut brethren, Kline theorized.

And there was one more finding of interest.

"At least in our study, gentlemen do not prefer blondes. They prefer brunettes," Kline said. "Its kind of an interesting finding, considering that in our society we concentrate on the blonde -- it's so pervasive."

The Florida researchers hope to reproduce their findings in larger studies using photos of various women, including older women and women of different ethnicities.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: blondes; brunettes; hair
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To: Desdemona
As one who was pursuaded to cut her locks a little shorter (currently working on growing it back), I can attest that short hair is way too much work. It actually has to be styled every day.

Long hair takes longer to wash and dry.

In more primative times, it also took longer to pick out the lice.

21 posted on 06/28/2003 3:52:44 PM PDT by Age of Reason
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To: Desdemona
I'm also growing my hair back out. It's just now touching my shoulders again. And it is less difficult in some ways, I just wear it shaggy and I don't have to "do" it every day like I did when it was short. But man, the shedding! Long hairs clogging my drain, long hairs all over the sink, long hairs stuck to my body after I shower... ugh!!
22 posted on 06/28/2003 3:53:28 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (Let them, like, eat cake, or whatever.)
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To: Pukin Dog
Jennifer Connelly: The only woman I would buy a house for.

I've got a cousin who's been married three times.

He told me that the next time he even thinks about getting married, he's going to find a woman he simply cannot stand....and buy her a house.

23 posted on 06/28/2003 3:53:52 PM PDT by sinkspur
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To: Pukin Dog
Jennifer Connelly: The only woman I would buy a house for.

Save your money. She's a strange woman. And those aren't real.

24 posted on 06/28/2003 3:55:28 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (Let them, like, eat cake, or whatever.)
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To: A_perfect_lady
Madonna has black-brown italian hair just like myself, big huge long hair.. or she had till she dyed it death and now uses extensions.
25 posted on 06/28/2003 3:55:41 PM PDT by cyborg (I'm a mutt-american)
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To: Age of Reason
Long hair takes longer to wash and dry.

Let it air dry. Heat does too much damage.

And it takes a while to get lice out no matter how long it is.
26 posted on 06/28/2003 3:56:03 PM PDT by Desdemona
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To: A_perfect_lady
I had that problem in the late 60's too! :-)
27 posted on 06/28/2003 3:57:10 PM PDT by JoeSixPack1 (POW/MIA - Bring 'em home, or send us back! Semper Fi)
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To: A_perfect_lady
Oh, be sure you're getting enough copper in your diet and a cup of bleach down the drain once a week.
28 posted on 06/28/2003 3:57:10 PM PDT by Desdemona
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To: A_perfect_lady
They are real; she had them since she was 13. (I'm a movie buff) Strange, I can handle.
29 posted on 06/28/2003 3:57:32 PM PDT by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: sinkspur
That's what I meant. You could not drag me down the aisle for marriage, but I would just buy Connelly a house and get it over with.
30 posted on 06/28/2003 3:58:26 PM PDT by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: jellybean
I'll take Mel Gibson any day!!

...and all night too!

31 posted on 06/28/2003 3:59:57 PM PDT by tsmith130
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To: demlosers
Partial to long red hair here.
32 posted on 06/28/2003 4:01:31 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan (Liberals - "The suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked")
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To: A_perfect_lady

Meet the young Jennifer Connelly. Destined for stardom at 13.

33 posted on 06/28/2003 4:02:02 PM PDT by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: Senator Pardek
Head hair, I'm assuming.

LOL!! This was a survey of American men, not French men.

34 posted on 06/28/2003 4:02:14 PM PDT by FITZ
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To: demlosers
The findings are based on interviews with 50 men

Gee, quite the exhaustive sample, what's the potential error rate, 50%?

Nonetheless, the study lucked into finding the gosh darn truth. One caveat, nothing is better than dark auburn red hair. Especially long dark auburn red hair, and a southern accent.

35 posted on 06/28/2003 4:02:21 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Pukin Dog
Now, you posted the pre-eating disorder Jennifer Connolly. I can agree with you that she looked stunning. In fairness, this is the more recent look for her, without curves.


36 posted on 06/28/2003 4:03:27 PM PDT by dogbyte12
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To: dogbyte12
Nothing a few force-fed pizzas could not fix.
37 posted on 06/28/2003 4:04:24 PM PDT by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: jellybean
Ohhhyah, jellybean! Mel Gibson looks good in locks (Braveheart) semi-locks (The Patriot) and no locks (everything else.) He even looks good in the mullet of Lethal Weapon! (Sigh...) (Drooling on the keyboard, here...)
38 posted on 06/28/2003 4:04:32 PM PDT by Monkey Face (Eat a bullfrog every morning and nothing worse can happen the rest of the day.)
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To: Desdemona
Let it air dry. Heat does too much damage.

No time to let it air dry when a woman is on her way to the office and working OT.

But a woman who puts her traditional role first, will put her hair first.

Hair communicates (though one must take into consideration a woman's entire appearance, considering how she would look with shorter hair as compared to wearing long hair up--while also taking into consideration whether she has long hair but is wearing it up because she is appears engaged in a certain activity, to accurately guess what her hair communicates).

And if we consider the extreme of women who buzz-cut their hair--that certainly is low maintenace, and that obviously signals militancy, no?

39 posted on 06/28/2003 4:04:57 PM PDT by Age of Reason
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To: Pukin Dog
They are real; she had them since she was 13.

1) Then where were they in Labrynth? and 2) Where are they now?

I'm sorry, but I remember reading about her "going D-cup" for The Rocketeer and then later having them taken out again.

And I think she's anorexic. Look, I'm not saying don't admire her, she's a stunning beauty. Just don't buy her a house! ;^)

Now you could buy me a nice little cottage on Lake Erie, if you like.

40 posted on 06/28/2003 4:05:41 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (Let them, like, eat cake, or whatever.)
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