The Surprising Power of Women in High Heels:
Creative research reveals a striking response
Over the years, I have written
about different features that can
increase physical attraction,
making an individual seem more
handsome or beautiful. I have also
discussed how personality can
influence judgments of physical
attractiveness. Further, I have
even shared research
demonstrating that the color of
clothing, specifically red clothing,
increases appeal.
Today, I would like to continue that
topic with the exploration of women's
footwear. Clearly, many women care
about shoes and take great care to
shop for them. Until recently, however,
it was not known whether such shoe
choices had any effect (beyond perhaps
improving the woman's own selfesteem).
Now we know.
The Science of Stilettos
Nicolas Gueguen (2014) explored the
effects of women's shoes in a series of
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four experiments. In all of these
experiments, Gueguen dressed a few
college-age women in matching outfits
(black straight skirt, white long-sleeve
shirt, and black suit jacket). He then
varied the size of the heel on the shoes
they wore and had them participate in
a series of tasks. For those interested in
shoe specifics, here are the details
below:
"New, black leather shoes were used:
one with flat heels (flat heels
condition), a second with 5-cm heels
(medium heels condition) and a third
with 9-cm heels (high heels condition).
They were in fashion and considered to
be dress pumps that enveloped the
sides of the foot, the heel, and the
toes, leaving the ankles and the instep
visible. The shoes had neither straps
nor laces. In the two conditions with
heels, except for the length, precaution
was taken to use the same form of
heels: the top of the heel was
4.595cm2 and tapered to 1.591 cm2 at
the bottom."
Gueguen (2014) then sent these
women out to perform various tasks on
the street and measure the reactions of
random pedestrians. In the first two
experiments, the women were asked to
solicit participation in various surveys
on equal rights and dining preferences.
Results indicated that higher heels
significantly increased male pedestrians'
willingness to comply with the survey
request (with high heels getting an
82-83% response rate versus flats
42-47%). Unfortunately, however, the
shoes were not as persuasive for
female pedestrians, who generally
responded to the request at a 30-36%
rate, regardless of the type of heel
worn by the requester.
Experiment three measured the effects
of high heels on helping behavior. The
same group of women were asked to
walk around in various shoes,
accidentally drop a glove, and see
whether someone would tell them.
Here again, heel length had an effect
on men's helping behavior. Men
informed a woman in heels that she
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