Secret to sexiness? Be yourself

The team from Queen's University in Ontario looked at the effect of walking style.

The team from Queen's University in Ontario looked at the effect of walking style.

Published Aug 12, 2015

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London - If you’re trying to make yourself look more appealing by copying the catwalk wiggle of a supermodel or the macho strut of the latest Hollywood hunk, then think again.

The secret of being sexy, it seems, may be as simple as just being yourself.

Scientists believe that far from making us more attractive, any small changes that we make to our appearance can actually make us seem less appealing.

This is because they confuse the brain of the beholder, who subconsciously spots that something isn’t quite right – so walking in a way that seems out of step with your body shape could easily backfire.

The Canadian researchers say that the same goes for a hair colour that doesn’t match the eyebrows or make-up that disguises the natural features.

They add: “It is not easy to convince someone that you are something you are not.”

The team from Queen’s University in Ontario looked at the effect of walking style. Volunteers were shown short films of people walking and asked to rate how attractive they seemed.

But when someone with a beautiful body was shown performing somebody else’s highly attractive walk, the overall effect was less appealing than expected.

As a result, a pretty woman who tries to adopt a sexy walk may actually end up making herself seem less beguiling.

Researcher Dr Nikolaus Troje said: “We found that attractiveness depends on internal consistency – whether the movement and shape match each other or not. Our visual system is a sensitive lie detector that perceives even slight inconsistencies and responds negatively to them.”

Dr Troje believes the brain has evolved to be alert to mismatches in looks and movement.

This skill would have allowed our caveman ancestors to zero in on young or injured animals in a herd and pick them out as easy prey. Similarly, a person who moved awkwardly might have been ill and so not a good mate.

Although he studied mismatches between movement and body shape, Dr Troje believes other subtle changes to the appearance may be similarly off-putting.

He said: “If you have blonde hair and dark eyebrows and want it to look natural and want to appear prettier, it might not work because it might signal to someone else that there is something odd about you. What works for one person may not work for another one. If in doubt, just be yourself.”

However, it also seems that changing your walking style can have some benefits.

Dr Troje’s previous research found that a person’s mood can be lifted by adding a bounce to their gait, while deliberately slumping shoulders leads to us dwelling on the negative.

The latest study is published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

Daily Mail

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