Physical Wellness

Men More likely to Help Women in Heels

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Nov 20, 2014 09:38 AM EST

Women who wear high heels are more likely to receive help from men, a new study reported. According to the researchers, men find women in heels more attractive.

For this study, researcher Nicholas Gueguen, from the department of social behavior at the University of Bretagne carried out four experiments to assess how people responded to women based on their shoes. The women were French and mostly brunette. They wore the same black suit, straight skirt and white shirt outfit paired with either black flats with no heel, black shoes with a two-inch heel or black shoes with a 3.5-inch heel.

The team discovered that young women who wore the highest heel received the most response from men between the ages of 25 and 50. About 83 percent of men stopped to answer the woman's questions for three to four minutes. The response rate for women who wore flats was 47 percent.

The researchers conducted another experiment on women to see if they would react to high heels the same way men did. Four of the female volunteers, wearing different kinds of shoes, were instructed to ask men and women to complete a food survey. In this experiment, men were once again more likely to take the time to talk to women in 3.5-inch heels. 42 percent of men stopped for women in flats. Women, however, did not react in the same way as men. 33 percent of women, on average, agreed to answer questions regardless of whether or not the woman was wearing heels or flats.

In another part of the experiment, the researchers asked the female volunteers to drop a glove while walking. The team found that 93 percent of men ended up chasing down women in heels in order to return the glove. Only 62 percent of men put the same effort in returning a glove for women in flats. The women's response rate was 52 percent for women in heels and 43 percent for women in flats.

In the last part of the experiment, the researchers strategically placed women in three bars and seated them in a specific way so that their shoes were visible. They found that women in heels were approached by men within 7.49 minutes. Women in flats, however, were approached after 13.54 minutes.

"The results showed that high heels were associated with greater sexiness, overall physical attractiveness, breast attractiveness, beauty, attractiveness to other men, and willingness for a date," Gueguen concluded according to TIME.

The study, "High Heels Increase Women's Attractiveness," was published in the journal, Archives of Sexual Behavior.

© 2023 Counsel & Heal All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics