What is the Red Hair Effect?
It’s funny how people think they can glean something as simple as hair color.
Brunettes are supposedly smart, blondes are funny and goofy, and redheads are hot-tempered.
While this may seem like trite stereotype to some, one TikTok user who has had all hair colors can vouch that you are treated differently depending on what you do, and red hair seems to attract more male attention than others.
On TikTok user @peralixs said she was “best treated” with long dark hair and worst with “short unnatural hair”.
While it’s great if you’re actively trying to pull, it’s not so great if you’re trying to mind your own business and mind your own business.
She’s not alone – people in the comments were shocked to learn that they weren’t the only ones who encountered a lot of people flirting with them when they dyed their hair red.
Red hair effect. Good to know this is confirmed by others…,” one person wrote.
One woman said she “pulled so hard” when she had red hair, but when she went blonde, the attention abruptly stopped.
Another said, “I don’t know why, but red hair makes it wild, it was crazy when I had it.”
“Men used to foam at the mouth from my red hair,” joked another.
Someone else who has tried many hairstyles also endorsed the original poster: “From long blondes to long redheads to short unnatural, it’s true,” she wrote.
While it may seem far-fetched, the red hair effect may be an extension of TikTok’s red nail theory, which says that painting your nails red gets more male attention – and this theory is actually supported by science.
A 2008 study found that “red makes men see women as more attractive and sexier.”
Psychologists Andrew Elliot and Daniela Niesta, who wrote the study “Romantic Red: Red Increases Men’s Attraction to Women,” also noted that “men do not seem to notice this effect of red, and red does not affect women’s perceptions of other women’s attractiveness, nor does it affect men’s perceptions of female attractiveness, kindness, or intelligence.”
While this may explain why red-haired girls get more male attention, it certainly doesn’t justify it, and it goes without saying that red hair is not an invitation for unwanted sexual harassment.
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Contact us at MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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