Quickie: Romantic Music Really Does Put Us in the Mood for Love
Research shows love ballads make us more open to seduction
Can’t get a date? Studies suggest you may want to change your playlist.
Researchers at the Université de Bretagne-Sud and Université de Paris-Sud studied how successful a man could be in picking up women when different kinds of music played in the background. First, young women (aged 18 to 20) were asked to rate how romantic they thought different songs were. Researchers then asked them to look at pictures of 12 young men and rate them on their level of attractiveness. In order to ensure that the women were responding to the music, and not a hunky guy, the researchers chose a man that participants considered “average” for the next part of the study.
“Exposure to media content…could have the potential to influence a high spectrum of behavior.”
Then the man chosen was given the opportunity to ask 87 women for a date. His pickup line was always the same: “My name is Antoine, as you know, I think you are very nice and I was wondering if you would give me your phone number. I’ll phone you later and we can have a drink together somewhere next week.”
