As part of an experiment, researchers from the University of South Brittany studied men’s behaviour depending on different types of shoes. This entailed observing what happens if a woman wearing flat shoes asks people to fill out a survey. They also observed whether men would be more willing to oblige if the woman was wearing high heels.
Another part of the research included investigating whether people felt the urge to help the same woman by picking up a glove that had fallen on the floor – once again, wearing different heights of heel. The result was unambiguous: men’s willingness to help increased with the height of the heels. On the other hand, the height of the heels had no impact on the willingness of women to help.
Behaviour is heavily affected
In a final experiment, the researchers found that, in a bar, men were quicker to strike up conversation with women who wore high heels. “The height of a woman’s heels has a strong impact on a man’s behaviour”, explains Nicolas Guegen, the research leader, summarising the results.
According to him, the research shows how strongly men focus on a woman’s physical attributes when they are assessing or interacting with the opposite sex. From these results, Guegen hypothesises that seductive female figures are very often portrayed wearing high heels in the media and that men may connect these with the woman’s sexual intentions.
