Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?
A Review of Scientific Studies that Relate to Men’s Preferences in Their Partner’s Hair Color
Jeannette Burgess
Hunter College
August 18, 2017
Abstract
It is often said that men prefer blonde haired women over women with any other hair color. A part of me knows that this is just one of those things people say. But I must admit I have always wondered if there was any truth behind this statement. These sayings don’t just enter into our culture for no reason. Perhaps I have been so curious about this topic because I am a woman with dark hair. Has the color of my hair played a significant role in my dating life? Am I limited to dating only certain types of men because of my hair color? Should I change the color of my hair in order to become more successful in the dating world? Most likely the answer to all these questions is no, but why not take this opportunity to see if the research can support my ideas?
One of the first studies I looked at involved determining how men view blondes in relation to attractiveness and youthfulness. This study was titled: Do men prefer blonde women? The influence of hair color on the perception of age and attractiveness of women by P. Sorokowski. The results concluded that the male participants considerably perceived blonde haired women to be more youthful. It also noted that the men in this study did prefer blonde women over women with darker hair colors. However it must be known that this study was conducted in Poland where a large amount of the population is fair haired. Because of this fact, I questioned the effects of this culture’s normative bias on the results of this study. The men used in this study may simply prefer blondes because that is what they are most exposed to.
In a French study titled Hitchhiking Women’s Hair Color by N. Gueguen and L. Lamy from 2009 it was suggested that blonde haired women would be picked up more often than those with other hair colors. The study demonstrated these ideas by having five women wear different colored wigs and attempt to hitchhike. The results of the study showed that the women were picked up 18% of the time while wearing the blonde wigs. The women were only picked up 14% of the time while wearing wigs of other colors. It was also noted that the small preference was noted in male motorists with no significant preference noted in female motorists. This could allow some to say that men do in fact prefer blonde haired women but in my opinion the small difference in preference in this study is not enough to definitively say that men have a preference to any one hair color.
In another European study conducted with British men in 2011 the men’s actions in nightclubs were gaged in order to determine their hair color preferences. The study British Men’s Hair Color Preferences: An Assessment of Courtship Solicitation and Stimulus Ratings had women sit alone at three different night clubs while a researcher observed how many men approached them in an hour. In this study the blonde haired women were always approached more than women with other hair colors. It is important to note that the men in this study were also surveyed to determine their preferences afterward. Nearly all the men in this study stated that they found brunettes to be the most attractive. This made me wonder why the blondes were approached more often than the brunettes. This may have something to do with the fact that blondes are perceived in society as more sexually available than brunettes. This would explain why they would be more frequently approached in a setting often related to “hook-ups.” If in another setting brunettes may be approached as often as or more often than blondes.
The next study I read used both men and women to assess a variety of physical traits such as eye color, hair color, and skin color. The study was titled Sex Differences in Physical Attractiveness Preferences by S. Feinman and G. Gill. The study had college students in Wyoming complete a questionnaire about qualities of attractiveness in members of the opposite sex. For the purposes of my understanding men’s preferences I only looked at results regarding male’s preferences of women’s hair color. In this study 38% of those surveyed noted that they preferred Blonde hair color in women. However, it was also found that 41% of participants favored brown haired women. These percentages for preferences are remarkably similar to each other especially when you consider the fact that only 7% of the men surveyed preferred red haired women. These results have allowed me to better understand the preferences of college age males in North America. While this does not represent the entirety of the population it allows the public to gain access to the preferences of a certain group of men in the United States. After reviewing the results of this study I have become more curious about why men seem to dislike red heads. Could it be related to the Polish study on blondes? Do men in North America have an aversion to red haired women simply because they are not as frequently exposed to red haired women? Could these results also have something to do with some common negative stereotypes about red haired people? I would be curious to find out why North American men have a distaste of red haired women.