There’s A Scientific Reason Why Men Are Either Into Brunettes Or Blondes (2024)

There’s no formal definition of beauty. There never has been. As the cliché goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."It’s not like there’s some systematic outline for what'sbeautiful and what isn’t.

With that said, throughout the history of mankind, it’s hard to say society hasn’t developed an impression of what beauty should look like. I mean, this is why we have billboards, and models, and fashion magazines.

When most people think of beauty – or a face to apply to the word, at any rate – I’ll bet they think of Marilyn Monroe, before anyone else.

One step further, when people think of Marilyn Monroe, I’d also bet they think of her blonde hair, before all else.

Monroe’s iconic platinum blonde locks blazed the trail for “blonde bombshells.”

While I’m sure blonde hair has always been an object of attraction for men, after Monroe’s rise to fame in the early 50s, it became a staple of beauty.

And, then, the clichés began to pop up –blonde is beautiful; blonde is better; blondes have more fun – and, suddenly, we found this notion of blonde superiority being pushed to the forefront of popular perception.

Personally, I’ve always been a brunette guy. Not to say there’s anything wrong with blondes -- I mean, I’d happily settle down with Kate Moss, don’t get me wrong.

Having said that, for me, there’s just something about the whole dark hair, dark skin, combination that can’t be touched.

At the same time, I also recognize most mainstream ideals prefer otherwise. It’s common knowledge that most men prefer blondes, right?

Well, after coming across a recent study, it appears science provides evidence –despite popular belief –men might actually favor brunettes.

According to Deborah Arthursfor Daily Mail, men find women with darker hair more sexually attractive.

Based on a poll conducted by social networking website Badoo, in a survey of2,000 men, more than 60 percent of men reported they prefer“raven-haired” women.

As shown by the data, around one-third of the men polled claimed to find brown hair the most attractive; whereas, a little under 29 percent of men favored women with black hair.

Not to cast shade on the red-headed women out there; it is important to note almost 9 percent of men expressed their preference toward redheads.

A separate study, conducted by Viren Swami and Seishin Berrett, could provide further information on the topic.

According to their research, which consisted of two different studies, men’s preference regarding blonde or brunette women is a more complex matter than you might have thought.

The first study employed a female test subject who sat in nightclubs over the course of a few weeks.

Throughout the experiment, she changed her hair color three times – blonde, brunette, red – while the experimenters “observed and counted how many men approached her during a one-hour period.”

Results showed she was approached most frequently under the blonde hair condition.Compared to the 42 men who approached her while brunette, 60 men expressed interest in her while blonde.

After simply comparing these two statistics, and applying a little bit of common sense, one would assume men found her more attractive while blonde; however, that might not be the case.

According to the second experiment conducted by Swami and Berrett, when showed a picture of the same women with different hair colors, men reported they found the brunette version more beautiful.

This presents aquestion: If men find brunettes to be more attractive, why did they approach the blonde women more frequently at the bar?

Swami and Berrett went on to propose the theory that men find blonde women to be more needy.

Thus, they were more approachable in public situations, “possibly because it induced greater feelings of dominance or confidence in [the men], which in turn reduced their inhibition,” as told by Dr. Raj Persaud and Adrian Furnham for HuffPost Lifestyle.

One possible reason for this divergence from popular belief comes from a shift in modern ideology.Over the past half a century or so, the role of woman has evolved greatly, and rightly so.

According to Maxine Frith of The Independent, historically speaking, blonde hair has always been viewed as a “symbol of youth that was attractive to men.”

As women have taken on a larger role in society – since, say, the 1950s when Monroe’s blonde hair reigned supreme – the male scope of beauty has taken on different forms.

According to research done by the City University of London, and the reported data of 1,500 males included in the study, 81 percent of men described the brunette as “intelligent,” while 67 percent purported she appeared “self-sufficient,” when asked to give their impressions of her personality.

"They are looking for more intense, equal partnerships and appearance has a large role to play,” noted Peter Ayton, the man who led the study. “It is even possible certain hair colours can indicate wealth and experience.”

The idea of blondness being linked to youthfulness was explored further in a study examining Polish samples.

Dr. Piotr Sorokowski set up an experimental study exploringmale hair color preference. The results of his research showed males did, generally, rate pictures of blonde hair as “more youthful,” andalso maintained a preference for these women with regard to overall attractiveness.

Needless to say, these polls and surveys provide reason to believe preference in hair color can vary by location. But whether you prefer someone who has blonde hair, blue hair, rainbow-colored hair, or even if hair color is the very last thing on your mind, it comes down to personal preference.

There’s A Scientific Reason Why Men Are Either Into Brunettes Or Blondes (2024)

FAQs

Are men attracted to brunettes or blondes? ›

It's common knowledge that most men prefer blondes, right? Well, after coming across a recent study, it appears science provides evidence – despite popular belief – men might actually favor brunettes.

What hair color do guys find most attractive? ›

Most Attractive Hair Colour According to Men

According to the survey, the majority of men (42%) found blonde hair to be the most attractive. This was followed by brunette (36%), red (16%), black (5%), and gray (1%).

Are most men attracted to blondes? ›

Men really DO prefer blondes! They find them 'significantly' younger and healthier-looking than brunettes. It's been decades since Marilyn Monroe ruled the silver screen. But, according to a study, it seems gentlemen still prefer blondes.

Why did humans evolve blonde hair? ›

Genetic History of Blondes

The general explanation as to how blondes came into being, is related the need for Vitamin D and lower levels of sunlight in some regions. To compensate for the deficiency in sunlight, people with lighter hair and skin were born.

What is sexier blonde or brunette? ›

Numerous studies point to brunette hair being more attractive. Take this 2011 study from dating app Badoo, for example. A couple of thousand UK men were polled and 33.1% of them revealed they found brunettes more attractive than blondes.

Do guys prefer face or body? ›

"When men were evaluating a short-term mate for a one-night stand they showed equal interest in her face and body instead of the face winning by a blowout." For long-term 75 percent of male participants wanted to see the face, but for short-term flings 50 percent of men chose face and 50 percent chose the body.

Why do guys like blondes so much? ›

The results revealed that, compared to women with dark hair, men found light-haired ladies more attractive overall, but more specifically, perceived them as younger and healthier. However, there is one downfall of blondes, apparently — they were also seen as more promiscuous, which is generally not a good thing.

What's the least attractive hair color? ›

A Tukey test was applied to this data showing that all three hair colors differed significantly from each other. Brunette was clearly the hair color perceived as most attractive, with blonde as the second most attractive, and red as the least attractive.

What's the rarest hair color? ›

The rarest natural hair colour is red, which makes up only one to two percent of the global population. You commonly see these hair colours in western and northern areas of Europe, especially Scotland and Ireland. However, natural redheads may not exist for much longer.

Do brunettes have a higher IQ? ›

However, contrary to the stereotype, blonde women have slightly higher IQs than brunettes, a study finds. However, the difference is so small as to be statistically insignificant. Blonde men, meanwhile, have similar IQs to men with other hair colours.

Why are blondes called toe heads? ›

A: The “tow” in “towhead,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to “the fibre of flax, hemp, or jute prepared for spinning.” Since flax is light in color, blond people (especially children) are sometimes referred to as “towheads” or “towheaded,” expressions first recorded in the 19th century.

Do guys prefer long or short hair? ›

5 Reasons Men Like Long Hair On Women. CNN recently shared research that men are most likely to prefer women with long hair past the shoulders. Guys were asked to rate the same women's faces based upon short, medium-length, plus super long locks. Males rated ladies with longer hair as more attractive.

Can a black person have naturally blonde hair? ›

Caption Options. Let's remember blonde hair is not owned by any one demographic or race. In fact, natural blonde hair can be found within Black communities. For instance, in Melanesia, a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, blonde hair and dark skin is indigenous.

What ethnicity has the most blonde hair? ›

Finland. The people of Finland have one of the highest concentrations of blond hair in the world. In large portions of Finland, 80% of the population has blond hair (and a full 89% of the population has blue eyes).

Why are natural blondes so rare? ›

Because blond hair tends to turn brown with age, natural blond hair is significantly less common in adulthood; according to the sociologist Christie Davies, only around five percent of adults in Europe and North America are naturally blond.

What hair color is most feminine? ›

Most women think brunette hair is the sexiest, as 25% of those polled favoured this option. Womens' second preference is blonde, which was voted as the sexiest hair colour by 19.6% of women. Again, red took third spot, accounting for 11.8% of womens' votes.

What do men find most attractive in a woman? ›

Men prefer a woman who can stay calm and relaxed. Beauty is more than make-up and a fancy haircut. Men find women more attractive when they are neat and clean. Men find women who smell nice, who have clean hair and hydrated skin more attractive than a face perfectly covered in makeup.

What hair color is the prettiest? ›

People with brunette hair are the most attractive.

By presenting pictures of the same woman with different dye hair colors, the researchers found that out of the population analyzed, 67 percent of men preferred the woman with brunette hair and 71 percent of women chose the man with brunette hair.

Which body part attracts guys most? ›

10 Physical Features That Attract Men The MOST
  • Legs.
  • Eyes.
  • Lips.
  • Clear skin.
  • Hair.
  • Well-kept nails, hands, and feet.
  • Your figure.
  • Your smile.
Sep 6, 2017

Which part of female body attracts the most? ›

Maybe a little ignored, lower back is the one of the most erogenous zone in a female body. Talking about men, they love all your curves woman! Saksham Mathur candidly admits,"The way her round bottom excite me, nothing else does. Moreover, just a little massage or caressing sets the passion right.

What is the most attractive body to men? ›

This aligns with our previous survey results and the overall body of research (study). Men had a strong preference for having a lower body-fat percentage, with 74% of men saying they preferred the body with abs.

Why do guys prefer short girl? ›

Guys often like short girls because their height difference makes them feel needed and like they can protect them. Some guys are drawn to short girls because they make them feel taller and more manly, boosting their ego. Shorter guys often like shorter girls because they are more similar in size.

Why do men like long hair? ›

Men like your long hair for the same reasons they like high heels and dresses; because it looks feminine. Long hair affords the wearer far more variety than shorter styles.

Why do blondes get darker with age? ›

Changes in age, nutrition, temperature, sun exposure and various other factors can cause our bodies to change the amounts or types of hormones we make. The genes for making melanin might turn on or off over a lifetime, causing your hair color to change.

What is the prettiest hair and eye color combination? ›

Top 10 Hair and Eye Colors That Go Best Together
  1. 1 Blond Hair and Blue Eyes. I think it is a beautiful combo! ...
  2. 2 Brown Hair and Light Hazel Eyes. ...
  3. 3 Red Hair and Dark Blue Eyes. ...
  4. 4 Brown Hair and Green Eyes. ...
  5. 5 Blonde Hair Dark Brown Eyes. ...
  6. 6 Black Hair and Purple Eyes. ...
  7. 7 Red Hair and Green Eyes. ...
  8. 8 Brown Hair and Blue Eyes.

What is the hardest hair color to keep up? ›

Red is the hardest color to keep lustrous and the hardest color to remove,” she adds.

What is the hardest hair color to look good? ›

First and foremost, ICY, PLATINUM, GREY OR SILVER is certainly the most difficult hair colour to achieve. This is the most difficult tricky colour on any level. This applies to platinum, icy and white as well as any silvers, greys, or dark slate grey.

What eye color is rarest? ›

Green Eyes

Green is considered by some to be the actual rarest eye color in the world, though others would say it's been dethroned by red, violet, and grey eyes.

What is the rarest eye color hair color combination? ›

There's a little genetic tweak that makes the combination of red hair and blue eyes the rarest of them all. The same Nature study mentioned above found that another gene variant, HERC2, interacts with both the MC1R gene and the OCA2 gene—and it can shut off the redhead gene while expressing blue eyes and blonde hair.

What is the rarest eye color for a redhead? ›

Red hair and green eye genes are simply not as common in populations as other hair and eye colors. One study found that the red hair-green eyes genetic combination is one of the rarest, at -0.14 correlation. Having red hair and blue eyes is even rarer.

What are brunettes known for? ›

With a history rooted so profoundly in the evolution of humans, it's to no surprise brunettes are known as wise, sophisticated, and mature. The more eumelanin pigment carried in your family genes, the darker your hair is.

Where do most brunettes come from? ›

Dark brown hair is predominant in the Mediterranean parts of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. Very dark brown hair, easily mistaken for black hair, can be found occasionally in parts of East Asia.

How many men prefer brunettes? ›

According to a survey of 1,000 men, 54 percent would prefer a brunette as their wife, 16 percent prefer a blond, and 30 percent have no preference.

What are dirty blondes called? ›

Dirty blonde hair — also referred to as "dishwater blonde" — doesn't get as much attention as platinum, honey, or strawberry shades these days.

Why is it called dirty blonde? ›

Dirty blonde is unlike your typical squeaky clean blonde shades like platinum and champagne. The hue is a medium to dark blonde shade with wheaty, brown undertones (hence, the word dirt in the name). These hints of brunette make dirty blonde dimensional and low-maintenance—what more could you want?

Is strawberry blonde a thing? ›

True Strawberry Blonde

At its best, strawberry blonde is a delicious, warm combination of blonde and red. The shade, which is sometimes called Venetian blonde, is a pale but vibrant take on red. It's flattering to a range of fair and medium skin tones and can lean either warm or cool.

Why do guys like shy girl? ›

Some men may see shy women as aloof and disinterested, while others find them mysterious and innocent, triggering their protective instincts. Shy girls may seem mysterious or intriguing. Some men find shy women appealing and feminine. Shy women may appear to have innocent charm.

Is short or long hair sexier for men? ›

Traditionally, women have preferred short hair on a man. Clean cut men with neatly cropped hairstyles are the oft-cited “ideal”. However, women tend to be less interested in a man's looks and more in his personality. In other words, with a winning personality, a guy can get away with whatever hairstyle he wants.

Is shorter or longer hair prettier? ›

Experts believe that the reason long hair is more attractive is the evolutionary one. In short, it is believed that the length of a woman's hair represents her body's ability to have children. In turn, this makes female fertility one of the markers of human beauty.

Can blacks have blue eyes? ›

Blue is the second most common eye color globally, with an estimated 8 to 10 % of people having blue eyes. A majority of these people are of European descent, however, Black people can be born with blue eyes even though it's pretty rare.

Are there black redheads? ›

A redhead of African descent is pretty rare. Except when people are of mixed ancestry, red hair in Africans is usually caused by a kind of albinism.

What black tribe has blonde hair? ›

Well, they exist, and they are called the Melanasians. Living in the Pacific islands of Melanesia, this group of people quite literally defies all stereotypes against Black people with blonde hair. Situated just north-east of Australia, the Melanesian's have dark skin, large features and originated from Africa.

What do you call a girl with blonde hair? ›

Blonde and blond essentially mean the same thing. It's just that in French, blond is the masculine form, both as a noun and adjective; adding the E makes it feminine. So, a woman with blond hair is une blonde, a man, un blond.

Where did blue eyes and blonde hair come from? ›

Perhaps the most plausible theory is that blonde hair and blue eyes arose because of a mechanism called sex selection. This is where males and females choose as their mates those who have one unusual physical characteristic, not necessarily associated with "fitness" per se but simply something unusual.

What state has the most blondes? ›

The State that has the most blondes and natural blondes is Minnesota. Minnesota has a background and history of Scandinavians and German ancestry.

Do blondes go grey or white? ›

Blonds get white hair just like brunets, but some blondes only appear to get a lighter blond while others experience their blonde hairs getting darker and duller as the white hairs begin to appear. Still, blondes can, over time, have a full head of white hair.

Is blonde hair a mutation from inbreeding? ›

No, they don't. Blonde hair seems to have appeared more than once in humans. Which means that different blondes trace back their blonde hair to different ancestors.

Why are blondes so attractive? ›

Caucasian blondes are usually slightly higher in oestrogen than brunettes and are likely to exhibit other infantile sexually selected traits (indicating low levels of testosterone) that are considered desirable by males, for example finer facial features, smaller nose, smaller jaw, pointed chin, narrow shoulders, ...

How many guys prefer blondes over brunettes? ›

According to a survey of 1,000 men, 54 percent would prefer a brunette as their wife, 16 percent prefer a blond, and 30 percent have no preference.

Do guys like lighter or darker hair? ›

Do guys like dark hair or light? A third of the men polled (33.1%) said they think the most attractive hair color is brown hair, while 28.6% said they prefer black hair. That means that in total, 59.7% of men said they prefer women with dark hair.

What colour hair do men find least attractive? ›

A study published in Psychology Studies found that men and women who have red hair are not considered as attractive or approachable as their blonde or brown-haired counterparts.

Do guys like light hair or dark hair? ›

The group of 110 male participants were presented with computer-generated images of women with either blonde, brunette or black hair. The study found that the majority of the men would generally associate the women with lighter hair as being more youthful and attractive in comparison to the women with darker hair.

What is the most attractive color on a woman? ›

Scientists have revealed that wearing the colour red will make you more attractive to the opposite sex. Studies reveal that red is the most attractive colour to both men and women but, curiously, the two genders are attracted to the same colour for different reasons.

What is the rarest hair and eye color combination? ›

There's a little genetic tweak that makes the combination of red hair and blue eyes the rarest of them all.

What is the most attractive height for a woman? ›

The ideal height for a woman, according to the average man, is 5'6”. Notably, this excludes 10% of men who say there is no such thing as too short and 9% who say no height is too tall. Similarly, there is no "too short" for 4% of women and no "too tall" for 7%.

What's the least attractive eye color? ›

Conversely, brown eyes are the most common color yet the least attractive to the survey's respondents. According to World Atlas, approximately 79% of the world's population has brown eyes, making it the most common eye color in the world.

What hair length is most attractive on a guy? ›

Traditionally, women have preferred short hair on a man. Clean cut men with neatly cropped hairstyles are the oft-cited “ideal”. However, women tend to be less interested in a man's looks and more in his personality. In other words, with a winning personality, a guy can get away with whatever hairstyle he wants.

What is the prettiest hair color? ›

Which hair colour do women think is the sexiest? Most women think brunette hair is the sexiest, as 25% of those polled favoured this option. Womens' second preference is blonde, which was voted as the sexiest hair colour by 19.6% of women. Again, red took third spot, accounting for 11.8% of womens' votes.

Which hair is most attractive curly or straight? ›

A general observation across experiments was that straight hair was perceived as younger, healthier, and more attractive than wavy hair and darker shades (medium copper and brown) were perceived more positively than blonde hair.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Greg O'Connell

Last Updated:

Views: 6148

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (62 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Greg O'Connell

Birthday: 1992-01-10

Address: Suite 517 2436 Jefferey Pass, Shanitaside, UT 27519

Phone: +2614651609714

Job: Education Developer

Hobby: Cooking, Gambling, Pottery, Shooting, Baseball, Singing, Snowboarding

Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.