How Many Dates Before Sex Is Acceptable?

                             

A Global Dating Survey of 11,000 participants conducted by Time Out in 24 cities asked the intriguing question: How many dates should have occurred before it's reasonable for a couple to couple? That is, to engage in sexual relations?

The bare results indicated that, on the average, people who responded said it was 3.55 dates. Or, as the Time Out 2015 article put it: "mid-fourth date. After the main has been cleared and the crème brûlée arrives."

My thought to this is, "On which planet are these 11,000 participants to be found?" Followed by, "What will the server and other diners think about that particular restaurant uninhibitness?"

Anyway, for the impatient, one-tenth of the respondents in Time Out thought that it was acceptable to end the first date by sharing a bed. Nighty night! No data was provided on how many must occur before couples advance to second or third base, but some of us wonder.

Obviously, particulars about the sample should be intriguing: the ages of the participants, their religious status, the representativeness of the sample.  The statistical devil is in the details, you know!

Part of the process of dating, from the woman's perspective, is to present oneself as desirable. And to avoid the negatives. 

To put it negatively, that means, first of all for most of us is don't dress or act like a slut. 

The first part is relatively straightforward.  The second part involves not appearing "too easy."

But maybe the standards of easiness vary from place to place. What might play in NYC or L.A. might not in Omaha or Duluth.

Of course, I came from a place known for its lack of inhibitions. Some girls I know even wore their Mardi Gras beads to church on Ash Wednesday! (You all know how those beads were come by; they're regarded as trophies for alcohol-based lack of inhibitions.)

But I would say that the going number of dates before sex in the Crescent City probably is at least twelve. At least among people I know who alluded on that topic. Orleanians and prudishness -- sounds like an oxymoron come to life!

 

Leaping to Conclusions about Coffee as an Olympic Sport

A little learning is a dangerous thing.

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again.

               -- Alexander Pope

A few years ago,  two Viennese researchers, Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer, reported in the journal Appetite that people who have bitter taste preferences might be more likely to have antisocial personality traits. Two US community samples (total = 953; mean age = 35.65 years; 48% females) self-reported their taste preferences using two complementary preference measures and answered a number of personality questionnaires assessing Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, everyday sadism, trait aggression, and the Big Five factors of personality. 

The results of both studies confirmed a hypothesis that bitter taste preferences are positively associated with malevolent personality traits, with the strongest relation to everyday sadism and psychopathy. Regression analyses confirmed that this association holds when controlling for sweet, sour, and salty taste preferences and that bitter taste preferences are the overall strongest predictor compared to the other taste preferences.

So what? The most commonly-reported relationship in on-line sources is that people who like to drink black coffee have higher dispositions toward the dark triad of personality (sadism, narcissism, and psychopathy. 

So what?

Well, there's a few loose ends.

First of all: there's the cause-and-effect relationship. Does psychopathy and Machiavellianism cause a preference for bitter tasting substances, or what? Not everything is linked in a causal relationship.

Secondly, there's the singling out of coffee. The research was concerned with taste and personality traits, of which bitter is one of the four basic tastes.

To make things interesting, the articles selected black coffee as an example of something bitter-tasting. But it doesn't have to be.

While some coffee can have a bitter taste, bitter-tasting coffee is more likely to occur if the coffee is too finely ground. Use a coarser grind instead. 

Second, water at its boiling point (212 F) is more likely to taste bitter. Using water at 195-200 F is best for non-bitter coffee.

Third, coffee tends to be more bitter if the coffee is left to stand. This is why gas station coffee is so bitter.

Fourth, select a better, less bitter type of coffee. Cheap coffees are more likely to be harshly bitter. Shop around. 

Fifth, using dirty equipment is more likely to result in bitter coffee. Dirty equipment, with residue of coffees past, is more likely to yield bitter-tasting coffee. Keeping your equipment clean may be the most important step.

In short, you can make a not harshly bitter cup of black coffee if you do it right.

But there's other aspects to coffee. These are the cultural ones. 

Some look on it as a quick means of self-medication. These may include the hasty espresso drinkers. And there's the black coffee as an accompaniment to certain jobs. Drinking coffee while performing data entry or being on-line, for example.

Coffee or tea may in some cultures be offered as part of a ritual of hospitality. ("A cuppa," as the English say it.) And some people, dammit, just want it to be bitter!

Disclosure: In general, I prefer a café au lait to black coffee, whether with chicory or not. Anyway, it is possible to enjoy black coffee that is not overly bitter. But use milk; coffee and creamer is a sin; and the good coffee fairy will smite you!

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The Eyes Don't Have It

What do men fixate on when looking at a woman's face?

Research by Dr. Geoff Beattie of the University of Manchester found that men, upon first encountering a woman, would spend about half of the first 10 seconds looking at her lips upon first meeting her provided she's wearing red lipstick.

Men fixated on lips wearing pink lipstick for 6.7 seconds on average; and 7.3 for those with red lipstick. Unfortunately for Goth girls like Dethany in the comic strip On the Fast Track, he did not collect data on dark lipstick. 

If women were wearing lipstick, then men spent only about 0.95 seconds looking at her eyes and 0.85 seconds looking at her hair.

If the woman being viewed was not wearing lipstick, then the guys focused on her lips only for about 2.2 seconds. The moral of the story is to wear a little lipstick! Maybe they might pay less attention to what's below the neck too!

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/red-lips-hold-mens-gaze-longer-than-nude-ones-2150543.html

What Guys Think About Women's Swimwear

I won't pretend otherwise: young women's choices in swimwear are partly determined by how attractive or even how sexy they look in them. But what kinds of swimsuits do men really like?

As is my wont, I did research. I found an article in Marie Claire which reported on what 100 randomly selected men felt about different styles of women's swimsuits. Here's some findings regarding specific examples of swimwear:

String bikini: 74% of the guys like them; 26% feel they are too revealing or they make observers feel uncomfortable. Maybe it's the string. Are they more comfortable when they're double knot-tied? Maybe seeing the top tied with a single bow can be anxiety-invoking for some fellows! One told me so directly!

Standard bikini: 93% like them; and only 7% find them too revealing. This one seems to get the highest approval ratings and is a safe bet, in most cases. And this type of suit seems to be compatible with moderate exercise.

Bandeau top bikini: 89% of guys like them; 11% don't. This is also a safe bet.

Monokini: only 22% of guys like them. These are seen as kind of weird. 

Standard one piece: 61% of guys like them; but they don't like retro styles so much. Ditch the 1940's look.

High fashion bikinis just did not thrill guys at all. Plus I wonder about the bizarre tan lines that go with some.

Unfortunately, the Marie Claire article did not go into details about their sample of 100 guys: their ages, marital or parental status, or other dimensions that could bring a bearing on their responses. As a researcher, I like those little details.

With this in mind, I thought it would be sweet to ask my fiancé his opinion regarding the type of swimsuit he would prefer me to wear shortly after we we got engaged,  I figured that if we were to be a couple, then he definitely deserved to have input into what I wear.

A nice hybrid bikini style

A safe swimsuit style that can be worn for heavy exercise.

A Factor Affecting the Payment of Taxes

The conventional wisdom is that people loathe taxes; and pay them only because of threats from the government to do so. 

However, an experiment done over 20 years ago by the Minnesota Department of Revenue regarding compliance in paying taxes came up with an unexpected result. The experiment worked as follows: Those participating in the experiment got one of four possible letters regarding tax payment.

(1) A letter emphasizing the social goods that are served by compliance: education, police, fire, health, etc.

(2) A letter emphasizing the penalties for non-payment;

(3) A letter emphasizing how they could get help in filling out the form;

(4) A letter emphasizing that more than 90 percent of Minnesotans already complied by paying their taxes.

Which letter seemed to work best?

Interestingly enough, extolling the benefits stemming from being a good citizen, threatening penalties for noncompliance, or offering help had little effect on compliance. Only one thing did: the information that most people have already complied by payment of their taxes in the past . The power of example, and the tendency to do like others do, served as a motivator for people.

Indeed, the I.R.S. (not a particularly popular governmental agency) might be following a counterproductive strategy by emphasizing penalties for noncompliance in payment of taxes. Why not simply send everyone who pays her or his taxes a note thanking them for paying, like most of their fellow citizens, their taxes?

And it would be really nice if the note was written longhand, on nice "thank you note" stationary. A little bit of the personal touch would possibly counter the alienation or the "us versus them" orientation of so many people.

The sale of war bonds during World War II showed that. For many, it was one of the ways they could contribute to the war effort.

Princess Lum, after she paid her taxes,
was left only with a swim suit and boots.
That left her wondering what she would have
been her penalty for nonpayment of taxes!

Paid Sex Leave for Government Workers?

Recently a Swedish politician in northern Sweden, Per-Erik Muskos, proposed that local government employees receive an hour of paid sex leave per week.  This was promptly shot down by other members of the 31-member government council. Per-Erik's proposal was that this paid leave for sex would help counter Sweden's falling birth rate. When you consider that Overtornea, Sweden, the community in question, is located on the Arctic Circle, you would think that they already had reason enough for sex. Anyway, nice try, Per-Erik!

A lot of things come to mind with the practicality of this proposal being adapted by some American cities or counties. 

Obviously, one issue whether this hour of paid sex leave actually be used in copulatory activities; or will some irresponsible government workers actually spend the time drinking coffee, watching television, gardening, hiking, or eating Swedish meatballs? Will the government require some form of documentation: a signed affidavit, swearing under oath that they had sex, physical evidence, or so forth. Seriously, will this require something like testing or some other intrusive indignity? Will they be asked whether they experienced the big O or not?

Then, there is how government might define sex. Don't laugh. Will some Clintonian criterion define sex only in terms of actual intercourse; or would minor benefits* forms of sexual relations also count? If the justification for this fringe benefit is to increase the birth rate, then certainly this could be for this kind of restriction. Also, some diligent governmental statisticians will have to crunch, or at least massage, the data!

Given that a significant number of workers are unmarried, then a paid sex leave benefit could be seen by some as encouraging premarital sex! That would offend a number of people because of  moralistic issues! Indeed, some states decided to require that government workers get married before this benefit would be available to them. Or, if pregnancy resulted, can you say governmental-elicited shotgun weddings?

Anyway, the two major political parties had a lot to work out with this idea. Democrats were in favor of paid sex leave; but wanted to extend it to all workers, not just government employees. Capitalists were not keen on this, especially for fast food workers, who had to find other means of their employees getting screwed. Bible-Belt Republicans who officially adopted a moralistic stance were opposed; however, a number of them were won over when it was pointed out that they too were government employees and that there's nothing like a little roll in the hay to ease tensions after a long afternoon of sessions or committee meetings!  Also, a telling argument was that government employees canoodling were causing less mischief then as opposed to doing government work. Now that's a concept that anti-big government people can easily grasp!

But a significant attraction for most Democrats and those Republicans was that more government bureaucrats could be hired to deal with paperwork generated by this new governmental benefit. In triplicate, of course. And have the compensated employees give all the gory details! This is to ensure that no one given the paid leave was doing other things, like texting or reading comic books, instead of what they were paid to do!

Nothing more refreshing than a little sex on the taxpayer's dime!

*From the expression, friends with minor benefits.

Modern Reassessments of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been around for over 75 years and is still a basic tenet in motivational theory and humanistic psychology. While it can be critiqued in various ways, it is also helpful to remember that it has served as a springboard for conceiving of different hierarchies. So let us start off at Ground Zero for this kind of thinking.

At the apex of the pyramid are the self-actualization needs. The need to realize all of your potential. Some lucky souls get to be this way. The rest of us just plod along.

Immediately below actualization needs are the psychological needs for esteem and love and belongingness.

Ad in the lowest levels are the safety needs and the physiological needs. These cannot be downplayed!

The introduction of the internet has added a few more needs below that. Like WIFI and a functioning battery. Preferably a secure WIFI connection, if I might be choosy.

The internet itself has spawned a new set of demands and needs. These can be arranged in a hierarchy of needs

. 

That important California area, Silicon Valley, has its own hierarchy of needs.

To consider a particular, shopping for a bra requires effort and concentration. It should be supportive, comfortable, and make a good appearance under your clothes. It should keep its contents stable and not jiggling much. Lastly, it should feel good on your skin. Is it too extreme to talk about Boob-actualization? Try wearing an ill-fitting bra for an hour or so before you answer. 

I guess it can be tough being a guy sometimes. They even have their own social hierarchy of needs to worry about:

Let's not forget other needs in any self-actualization that might be going on:

The Definitive Guide to Asshole Detection

Among the vagaries of casual dating, especially while matriculating at a university, one sometimes encounters those gaping orifices called assholes. Now why is this the case?

Well, they are legion. And homo assholeous frequently has an array of talents that makes one superficially interesting. Your first response may be due to his unexpected abruptness or talents that stimulate curiosity. Also, warranted genuine assholes often are socially skilled and glib and have a suite of behaviors that call attention to themselves. They are never dull and uninteresting. All the better to play you!

Of course, asshole behavior is not simply to remove your panties. They go in for rudeness, abrupt manners, risk taking, and other jarring behaviors. Hey, some people are making careers out of being the character in Risky Business, including dancing in tighty whities! Be mindful, though, is that this aspect of assholeness is not simply immaturity; but a concerted effort to defy conventions and manners.

It's not an absence of or incomplete socialization; but the candidate going out of way to be rude and ill-mannered.

It is tempting to view these miscreants as engaging in self-defeating behavior; however, when coupled with daring and glibness, they can sometimes dramatically achieve. Even to winning major elective offices (I'm naming no names; you furnish 'em).

And here's a point: there are some fields where being a bit of an asshole can confer an advantage: politics, business, acting or comedy, and so forth. And they take advantage of the implicit willingness to accept by others their antics. For some, it's just a phase; for others, it's an ingrained trait!

So what are features of these non-rara aves? They are flamboyant, narcissistic, insensitive to others, and sometimes abusive. Without the burden of a diagnosis, I'm referring to behaviors that might be similar to certain personality disorders; specifically the narcissistic personality disorder, the histrionic personality disorder, passive-aggressive behavior, and even possibly the antisocial personality disorder.  They basically get a lot of mileage from being difficult. 

If you become enamored with one, you are in for a lot of embarrassment and disappointment. Don't overestimate your talent at reforming one; it's probably a lost cause. Acting like an asshole is very reinforcing for him or her. And it's ingrained.

Authoritarianism as a Political Bogeyman

One by-product of our periodic elections is our latent tendency to try to explain what is going on in psychological or sociological terms. And, naturally, there's always someone from those disciplines who will offer quasi-erudite explanations for why people might be supporting a candidate that the professional in question finds to be unacceptable. 

Call that bemerding the opposition, to put it in quasi-French and therefore polite terms at least for monolinguists. This is nothing more than the equivalent of saying that people who disagree with me are wrong-headed, wicked, or possibly crazy. A cheap shot.

One such example is the old authoritarian personality, a person given over for fascistic impulses, supposedly a person who was brought up strictly; who has a strong superego coupled with a weak ego that deals with id impulses by suppressing them. 

Just a little aside back to old Freudian interpretations, which no one takes seriously any more.

Anyway, the so-called authoritarian personality is allegedly one that is disposed to fascism. This theory was posited in the post-World War II era when worries about fascism abounded. They developed a scale to measure authoritarianism, The California F Scale. Actually, the scale was flawed because of what we know now to be a rookie mistake: the items on the scale were keyed mainly in the positive direction. Therefore, people who simply tend to agree with statements regardless of content tend to come out as faux authoritarians. They just were agreeable; or in the lingo of the time, socially acquiescent.

Lately, this authoritarian concept has been invoked to explain Donald Trump's supporters: They're a bunch of fascists-to-be. Good Lord: our politics have already descended to the level of chimps in the zoo throwing poo at each other!

Actually, this personality construct could be used to cover either those on the right or the left.

Some on the Right might invoke our salvation and continued prosperity as the result of electing a strong man. [Big Daddy].

Some on the Left might likewise this as potentially due to a strong, all-encompassing government and institutions [Big Nanny].

The reality is that most of us are just trying to get by, to muddle through.

Jus† so neither of our Presidential candidates tries muscle-building poses like Vlad the Poser. Do us that service, at least. We have enough to be embarrassed about. Already we have been treated to naked statues of both. That is skerry enough!

Is This the Ideal Feminine Face?

A few years ago, scientists found that among 8,000 possibilities this is the most loveable feminine face. She's Florence Colgate, and she lives in Britain. Her face is characterized by full facial symmetry (her right and left sides are identical), the pupils of her eyes are apart about 44% of the facial width (46% is ideal), and the distance between her eyes and mouth are 32.8% (33.3% is ideal). 

Florence apparently does not take this very seriously, but others did. While she was chosen by vote, apparently her biometrics very closely approximate those of the ideal female face according to scientists.

More recently, these five celebrities were the first five rated as the most ideally attractive woman: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, and Keira Knightley.

So what specifics contribute to the ideal feminine face? The person having a heart-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes, arched eyebrows, a small, slim nose, and full lips. Apparently hair color and height are not as important. I have no idea how this research was funded but it could have applications. 

What Does the Color of Your Bikini Say About You?

Simplistic measures of personality abound in the pseudo-psychology world; and occasionally those based on colors occasionally appear. The old Lüscher Color Test was one of these.

Recently, an article appeared in Bikini.com proposed that someone's personality would influence what color bikini she would choose to wear. Now this is nothing more than a quasi-typology; namely, that there is a type of personality who would wear a red bikini while others might choose a yellow one or a violet one, or so on. There are several presumptions in play; namely that personality is a primary determinant of swimsuit color choice and that.

But is it that simple? There are a number of things that might come into play: skin tone, fashion, availability, cost, the elusive 'different' look, boyfriends' preferences, and just plain desire for variety. Like an outfit in your school's colors, even. Not to mention patterned ones! And sometimes momentary whim enters into consumer behavior, within monetary constraints.

I guess there's a moral here, if I may be granted the plenary indulgence of trying to extract a moral from bikini choice. (Usually morals and bikinis are combined in a different, more censorious context.) The moral is, don't assume simple answers are available.

"The truth is seldom pure and never simple."
                                        -- Oscar Wilde

I'm afraid that we're living in a time when people are looking for simple, all-inclusive solutions to national and social problems; and this tendency has make a mess of our political, social, and cultural life. Some of it is intellectual laziness and the desire for panaceas. (Panacea is on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and nowhere else.)

I guess I made too much from a fun sales article. But I'm loosely free-associating about something that kind of stuck in my craw of late. Pardon my running off the rails.

Besides, what does a white bikini signify?

Do Men Prefer Conformist Women?

It is seen as a truism that, while women are attracted to nonconformist men, men tend to prefer conformist women. That is, they see more conventional women as more feminine, safe, and predictable. The trope that women are attracted to edgy, seemingly dangerous bad boys has been around for a long time, as the Sandy character gravitated towards Danny in the movie Grease. 

But is the attraction of Greg for Dharma equally possible? (Dharma and Greg, an old television show.)

But is the preference for attraction really non-symmetric? Matthew J. Hornsey and his associates at the University of Queensland and Griffith University did a series of four experiments to test this proposition.

In general, they found that both men and women preferred nonconformist romantic partners. In fact, the less conforming a woman was, they greater the likelihood of dating success she was likely to have. However, women tended to see men as preferring more conventional, nonthreatening romantic partners. So what does this tell us? 

It tells us that there is a disconnect between perception and reality in this case. Women need not fear to fly their freak flag if they also want to get along with guys. Think of that: no need to present yourself as colorless, conformist, or uninteresting any longer. It may be that seeing a young woman acting confidently nonconforming boosts their courage to follow their heartfelt desires more and not be so conforming. After all, an obvious freak is less likely to disapproving of someone else's departures from the norm!

The "Ugliest Color" in a Fashion Statement

Recent research has revealed that Pantone 448 C (opaque couché) has been rated by over 1,000 people as the world's ugliest color. Here's a color square of this much-maligned color from which you may draw your own conclusions:

To me, the color does resemble that of cat poop; hardly one to paint a bedroom in; but maybe a cell for ISIS terrorists or serious masochists. 

Given those kinds of associations, it it surprising that opaque couché can serve as a fashion statement:

Risk-taking and edginess have always been in the world of couture; but this is certainly a bold move! Wearing red or yellow is regarded as a bold statement, not without risks. But the woman who wears an opaque couché garment radiates a confident message: "I'm so beautiful and charismatic that I can dare to wear a dress that is the color of cat or baby poop!"

A Possible Failure of the Anita Loos Effect

Years ago, author and screenwriter Anita Loos wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was made into a Marilyn Monroe movie years ago. This effect was later used to  explain why blondes disproportionately appear on magazine covers and on Fox News; and the fear of which may be a contributing factor to some of the anti-blonde sentiment.

Anyway, D. I. Kyle asked 136 college students to rate a job application resumé featuring a picture of a 40-year old blonde woman applying for an accounting position. Some of the applications featured the woman with her natural hair coloring, while others had her hair tinted brunette or red-headed.

In general, subjects who were given pictures of the woman as a brunette tended to rate her as more competent and be inclined to offer a larger salary than if her photograph depicted her as a blonde or redhead. I guess college students playing potential employment assessors tend not to live up to the Anita Loos Effect.

Kyle also found that the woman in the picture tended to be rated higher if she was not wearing make-up. Apparently, this was interpreted as a sign of more seriousness or competence.

Several things I'm considering:

1.   Which cues the women participating as raters used in rating the person; and whether they showed a different pattern from the men? This might impact hiring practices, particularly if women predict employment success better than men.

2.  Would this result be replicated using a younger woman as the possible test stimulus?

3.  Should I tint my hair a chestnut color?

Waitresses' Physical Characteristics and Tip Size

As a person who has worked as a server, I find it intriguing to read about the relationship of certain characteristics of the server's appearance or behavior to tip size. Previously, Geoffrey Miller found that lap dancers tended to receive larger tips during that time of the month they were ovulating. Barring that normally unavailable bit of datum, are there other characteristics of the server that possibly influence the tip.

Obviously, customers leaving the normative 20% of the bill as a good tip for a table server is not always followed. In some places or areas of the country, 15% is considered  acceptable. People who tip less are cheap so-and-sos.

However a paper by Michael Lynn (2008) reported on possible relationships between characteristics of waitresses and their self-reports of average tip size. Specifically, he asked the waitresses to self-evaluate their sexiness and attractiveness but also to report their ages, breast sizes, hair color, and body type. Finally, Lynn asked the women to give their waist and hip measurements, yielding their waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs). The ages of the respondents were primarily younger, with about 85% being below 35.

In general, self-perceived attractiveness tended to decline linearly with age of the respondents; but self-perceived sexiness tended to increase, peaking in the 30-35 age group. Women who were blonde, thin, or who had larger breasts and lower WHRs tended to report getting larger tips. Older waitresses reported getting larger-sized tips, especially those aged 35-40.

Offhand, it seems that there are several dimensions that may affect tip size. Very clearly, certain aspects of sexual attractiveness, especially to guys, do play a part. However, some other dimensions may play a part. For instance, the fact that older waitresses seemed to garner large-sized tips could be due to one or more additional factors in play: (1) These older waitresses have probably been waitresses longer, and have learned more waitress-related skills; (2) They may have or acquired self-presentation skills that enhance their encounters with customers; (3) They have more outgoing personalities that put customers at ease; (4) As compared to their younger counterparts, the average customer may identify more with them; (5) Older waitresses may be perceived as more needful of larger tips, and the customer may sense a greater obligation to tip them better.

Have you any thoughts along these lines?

So what can a potential waitress do? There are several things that seem to come to my mind. First of all, having an outgoing personality helps. Smile. Also, paying attention to details in the ordering and service process. Anticipate customers' needs. Understand the ambiance of the setting and whether you are expected by the customers to be sophisticated and formidable, or friendly and open. Good ole girls fit better with customers in truck stops or even breasturants than they would in four-star restaurants!

Which leads to how sexy you should act or whether you should use any enhancements. You're on your own in that area. I am convinced that the most effective way to appear sexy is to comfortable in your own skin. Sexiness is both in the eye of the beholder and the self-perception of the beheld.

Wearing Falsies in the Pursuit of Science

Psychological students, whether graduates or undergraduates, are sometimes called on to perform unusual tasks.  For example, in my time I have cared for laboratory rats, run planaria (flatworms) in an experiment, studied gladiator frogs, and even served as a research assistant in a social psychological experiment while wearing a swimsuit!

However, an in situ experiment by Nicolas Gérguen of the Université de Bretagne-Sud explored a new topic in social psychology by having his confederate wear different-sized falsies! 

http://transport.dna.fr/IMG/pdf/gueguen.pdf

The test stimulus used was a twenty year-old woman rated as of only average looks and a smaller than average frame (as assessed by ungallant raters).  She was positioned on a busy road in Brittany (Bretagne) attempting ro hitchhike during the hours between 2 PM and 6 PM.  (Hitchhiking is legal in France, and widely done.)  She wore different bras on different trials: one unpadded, one with latex padding to fill a "B" cup (the average size of a young woman in France), and one with latex padding to fill a "C" cup (the next size above average).  Two observers were placed within viewing distance to observe the sex of the motorist, and whether he or she stopped to offer her a ride..  Here are the results:

Sex of Motorist  Number  A Cup %    B Cup %    C Cup %
     
Males                    774       14.92       17.72       24.00

Females                426         9.09        7.64          9.33


Of those who offered The data indicate that men were more likely to stop if the woman displayed "C" sized breasts as opposed to "A" sized ones; but the likelihood of the woman being offered a lift was not greater if she wore a B cup bra with latex falsies.  It's amazing and somewhat reassuring the different ways people can make their own contributions to science!  

An unanswered question, however, if whether this young confederate of the principal researcher was allowed to keep her bras with their latex figure enhancers!

It would also be amusing  to see how an American Institutional Research Board (IRB) would react to a research proposal of this type.  The IRB's reaction might be hilarious!  Also, if a paper using this methodology were to be read at a convention, it would generate more interest if the research assistant would demonstrate how the independent variable was manipulated through a live example, preferably by wearing the larger-sized stimulus!  As a matter of fact, doing this would be a sure way of getting media exposure, both print and film!

Wearing of High Heels and Helpful Behavior by Men

The wearing of high heels is an acquired skill; particularly if the high heels are really high.  Of course, the wearing of heels is expected in certain occasions: in business professional settings, in formal and semi-formal dress occasions, and even in beauty contests (generating the preposterous combination of the mandatory swimsuit plus high heels.)

Dr. Nicolas Guéguen, a psychologist at the Université de Bretagne-Sud in Rennes, reported a study looking at whether whether women's wearing of high heels elicited more helping behavior by gentlemen and other ladies.  In two separate experiments, he had four young french women wearing on separate occasions flats, two-inch heels, of four-inch heels.

In the first experiment, the women stood on the street and asked passersby to complete a survey. When the women were wearing flats, 25 out of 60 men (42 percent) agreed to pause and take the survey. When the women wore two-inch heels, 36 of 60 men (60 percent) agreed to take the survey. And 49 out of 60 men (82 percent) paused when the women wore the four-inch heels.

Female passersby stopped to complete the survey around a third of the time; they were not more likely to complete the survey if the survey-takers wore high heels or flats.

In another experiment, the women confederates dropped a glove or the street and noted whether men retrieved for them or not.  Again, they were wearing flats or high heels.  The men retrieved the glove 62 percent of the time when the women wore flats, but 93 percent of the time when they wore high heels'.

As for why high heels have this sort of influence, Guéguen offered a simple explanation: the wearing of high heels simply makes women more attractive to men.

It's nice to know what sort of stimuli press the gentleman button in guys.  Whether it provides justification enough for mastering the skill of wearing four-inch heels, I don't know.

In my opinion, this sort of research should be replicated on a sample of American men and women, extended to include possible helpful behaviors that require more time or effort, and/or the confederates wearing different colored or exaggerated high heels.  After all, it is well-known that certainly strikingly colored or styled high heels are deliberately worn to exaggerate the wearer's gait and to be noticed by guys.  You probably know the popular term for them, which I won't use.

I wonder also, if some men assume that ladies wearing flats might be seen as less disposed towards offers of help by guys, rightly or wrongly.  If so, there are some advantages to being a girly girl.