The Seduction of High Heels Scientifically Studied

Tests in different situations show that men socialize more quickly with women when they are perched on heels.

In the arsenal of women's seduction weapons, high heels figure prominently. Curiously, the impact on the male behavior of this sex signal had not been studied by scientists yet. A French researcher has just corrected this gap.

Nicolas Guéguen, professor of behavioral sciences at the University of South Brittany in Vannes, is the author of many works and several books on the science of seduction. In the Archives of Sexual Behavior, he unveils a series of experiments showing the differences in behavior among men according to the height of the heels of a woman. "A woman is considered more beautiful and more attractive with heeled wholesale shoes. But thousands of studies show that it is a sufficient factor to increase men's help towards it, "he explains to Le Figaro.

A growing effect

Guess, for example, what is the percentage of success for a 19-year-old woman wearing flat heels when she asks a lonely man (about 25 to 50 years old), cross in the street if he is ok to answer some questions about gender equality? Almost 50% (14 agreements out of 30 contacts). Now have him wear heels (black) 5 cm high: the rate of participation in the study climb to 63% (19 out of 30). Push up to 9 cm, and you get the agreement of 25 out of 30 men (83%).

Women insensitive to "high heels effect"

More surprisingly, Professor Guéguen asked four women of identical morphology (about 1.67 m for 55 kg) and dressed, in the same way, to conduct the same experiment by calling this time, 45 men and 45 women. No surprise for men, again more willing to collaborate with the highest heels (81%) than with flat shoes (41%). On the other hand, the "high heels effect" is not observed among passers-by. Their collaboration remains around 30%, regardless of the height of the heels worn by the interviewer.

In a third experiment, a young woman dropped a glove from her purse as she passed a passerby. Result: 93% of men reacted within 10 seconds to report the loss to a woman with high heels, against 61% with flat heels. In crossed women, there too, no influence of the heels, the help within ten seconds of around 50%. The approach of women according to the height of their heels has already been studied thanks to light sensors spread over their bodies. "Men aged between 24 and 28 years old had to look at these sequences of luminous points and evaluate the degrees of femininity and appeal of the pace," explains Professor Guéguen. They also had to estimate the age of the person.

High heels, red clothes, and tattoo ...

Because it's all about seduction. "A recent research (not yet published) has shown that the profile picture from the shoulders to the knees of the same woman taken while she had or not high heels is enough for men to find it more beautiful, more attractive, more sexy, having a more beautiful breast and increases the desire of the men for an appointment with her ", explains the French researcher. But he also emphasizes that the use of his erotic capital can be double-edged for a woman, because of the "risk of harassment of some men who misunderstand his intentions." Without being aware of a woman wearing a red garment or a tattoo is for example considered more sexually available! More stones in the field of sexual signals misinterpreted by some men to whom the notion of consent escapes.

Even sitting, a woman with high heels attracts more

In the last experiment, Nicolas Guéguen and his team meticulously noted the time it took for men in a bar in Vannes (three bars in this case) to address a woman who had just entered a Friday or on a Saturday night, between 20:30 and midnight. The 36 women in the study were between the ages of 20 and 28, dressed the same way except for their shoes. Their only instruction was to cross their legs so that they were visible. A good way to facilitate contact, it seems, because wearing high heels, women were approached on average less than 8 minutes after their entry, while they had to wait almost double (14 minutes) without heels. And 12 minutes with 5 cm heels.