People With This Hair Color Are the Most Attractive, Study Says

People with brunette hair are the most attractive.

Researchers from the College of Natural and Health Sciences for the University of Tampa sought to find out which hair color was deemed as most attractive for both men and women, publishing their findings in a 2018 Florida Scientist study. The researchers analyzed the preferences of more than 1,900 male and female students at the university through a survey that also collected background data such as their own hair color, as well as the hair color of their parents and significant others. According to the study, men and women both viewed people with brunette hair color as more attractive than those with any other hue. 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.

Red hair was the least favorable among both groups.

In terms of both male and female preferences, blonde was considered the next best choice after brunette hair. According to the study, 27 percent of males chose the blonde photo of the woman to be the most attractive, while 23 precent of women similarly preferred the blonde hair. Red hair was deemed least attractive by both groups, however. The researchers noted that only 6 percent of males and 6 percent of females chose the red hair to be most attractive.

"Red hair was the least common hair color of the population and all individuals preferred it the least when compared to brunette and blonde hair colors. Despite this apparent strong dislike for females with red hair, males and females did choose red hair twice as much as the prevalence of red hair in the sample population," the researchers noted in their study. Only 3 percent of the female population had red hair, but both females and males preferred it at a higher rate of 6 percent.

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Brunette hair has been associated with several positive characteristics.

According to the study, brunette is the "average" hair color of the population because it was the most common. But that might not be the only reason both men and women appeared to gravitate to it as the most attractive. Instead, this hair color has also been commonly tied to various positive qualities in females that might be attractive to both sexes. "Brunette hair color in females has been associated with several personality characteristics, such as intelligence, independence, competence, and not being needy," the researchers said. "Thus, while the average hypothesis seems to be supported, there may be other linked associations to brunette hair in females, other than being the most common."

And it did not matter that the woman in the photographs was not a natural brunette. "Individuals in this study did not prefer dyed hair color differently from natural," the researchers wrote in their study. "They still match brunette."

Female preference for hair color may change depending on where they live.

The researchers had hypothesized that the preference for hair color might change based on geographical location. Every state in the U.S. was represented by participants in the study, as well as 137 countries. But at the end of their study, the researchers found that only female preference was impacted by geographic region. Male hair color preference for females did not.

"Specifically, the regions of New England and the Caribbean showed the greatest variation in choice compared to the expected values. In New England, blonde hair was chosen more often than expected and in the Caribbean, brunette hair was chosen more often than expected," the researchers explained in their study. But they also noted that overall, brunette hair was still chosen in the highest frequency, regardless of region.

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