Three Secrets to Attract a Man

Dress in red. Give him a smart phone that he will always talk about as a present instead of chocolate. After dinner, stand up and ask him, “We’re good friends, right?”

Scientists say if a woman who wants a man on Valentine’s Day should remember three things: the color red, a present he is interested in, and playing hard to get.

A team led by psychology professor Andrew Elliot of the University of Rochester (New York) showed photos of the same woman in red, blue, gray and green attire.

The team showed the photos to 149 young men and asked them to rate their level of attraction on a scale of zero to nine.

Men rated the photo in which the woman wore a red dress the most attractive, with the color’s score 1.2 points higher than the average. The study was published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Oct. 28 last year.

Elliot gave two reasons for red’s effect. People naturally feel red is attractive as the color is often associated with Valentine’s Day.

Dr. Park Soo-jin, a psychologist at Yonsei University in Seoul, said, “Red represents love and passion. Many people think blue gives the feeling of reason, but red is instinctive.”

The second reason lies in biological evolution. Elliot said the rumps of certain female primates like chimpanzees turn red during ovulation due to increased blood flow, making males more attracted to these females. Red is thus a color of attraction as a result of evolution.

Another Valentine’s Day tip for women is to forget about giving chocolate.

Researchers led by Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia in Canada divided 32 men with girlfriends into two groups. One group was told to get a present they wanted while the other was told to receive something they did not want.

Men who received a present they wanted found their girlfriend more favorable, while those who did not get one they wanted lost interest. Those who received a present they did not want said no to the question, “Will you marry her?”

The study was published in the journal Social Cognition in October last year.

Women, however, showed a different response. Though they got presents they did not want, they said they wanted to marry their boyfriends.

Dunn called a present is a yardstick showing the level of satisfaction of the relationship. “Women are more likely to maintain the relationship than men and try to understand men, but men do not,” she said.

If a man does not like chocolate, it is better to pick something else as a gift on Valentine’s Day.

The final tip to win a man over on Valentine’s Day is playing hard to get.

Robert Seymour, a math professor at University College London, said in The Journal of Theoretical Biology published last month that an extended courtship raises the chances of finding the ideal man.

The research used game theory to analyze how males and females strategically behave toward each other in the mating game. Participants get a positive payoff from a maintained relationship but a negative payoff from a breakup. An extended relationship earns them bonus points.

The longer the courtship, the more payoff the women got. Seymour said an extended courtship allows a female to get a better male, and a male can prove himself that he is a suitable spouse.

In other words, a woman who plays hard to get is more likely to meet Mr. Right.