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.
I can't believe there is a study I actually completely agree with!
I was pleased to see this, too:
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.
Yikes! So that makes her unattractive does it?
I have been both, and I can't see all that much difference! :-)
I'm not a mathematical statistician (nor do I play one on TV), but my father was. The family consulting business and my two statistics classes give me a fairly good background. This study is, to put it mildly, seriously flawed. Pathetic is closer to the truth.
A sample size of 50? In one city? To say that from this one can generalize that "men", with all the variety that assumes, prefer anything is downright stupid. To be fair, I've not run the numbers nor studied their "data", but with the scant information given here, it's intuitive that this study is lacking. Of course, it's intuitive that men prefer women with long hair, too. What a joke.
What?1/2 hour? for short hair? Mine is short and takes just a few minutes to dry. My daughter has long hair and when she blow dries it, it's like forever. If she lets it dry naturally, it just hangs, no style whatsoever. Hippie days are over. Short hair is definitely low maintainance, with a good cut. By the way, we just spent about 20 minutes plunging the bathtub drain because daughter's long hair was clogging it up. Ugh!
You know, ........... the Jessie BBQ's!
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