5 Ways Men Can Make Themselves More Attractive

Women holding a man

Source: Halfpoint/Shutterstock

Despite not feeling or ever being told that they are physically attractive, there may be ways in which men can enhance their attractiveness. Below we look at five possible strategies.

Hang with others. Researchers Rodway, Schepman and Lambert (2013) found that when people were presented with an unattractive face along with other unattractive faces, the unattractive face became more attractive than when people rated it on its own. However, when people were presented with images of an attractive face surrounded by average or unattractive faces, the attractive face was judged to be less attractive than when rated alone. This means that we might benefit from being pictured with others as long as they are equally attractive or more attractive than us. If we are pictured with people less attractive than us, then we are perceived as being less attractive ourselves. So, hanging out with other people makes us more attractive if they are equally or more attractive than us.

Be creative. Researchers Beaussart, Kaufman & Kaufman (2012) questioned over 700 college students on the amount of time they had spent in the last year on things such as painting pictures, taking photographs, and writing poetry or computer programs. The researchers also collected data on the number of sexual partners respondents reported being within the past year. Their findings indicated that the number of sexual partners predicted creative activity for males — so creative men reported more sexual partners.

Use humour. Being able to generate humour is an indication of intelligence in men, and as such they may possess better genes, at least as far as intelligence is concerned. Hence women prefer men who can make them laugh, because humorous men are able to give their offspring superior genetic benefits in terms of intelligence (Miller, 2001). Additionally, the ability to make someone laugh requires a certain level of social intelligence in terms of appreciating and understanding what someone else does and does not find funny.

Tell people about yourself. Disclosing one’s more personal information to others has long been known to increase liking between people. In a review of studies on this back in 1994, Nancy Collins and Lynn Miller concluded the following on the link between disclosure and liking:

• Those people who use more intimate disclosure tend to be liked more than people who disclose information at less intimate levels.
• We disclose more information to those people who we initially like.
• We are liked more by people if we disclose to them.

Clearly, there may be some variation on the above such as factors like the information being disclosed and the gender of the people engaging in the disclosure, but overall, disclose is known to increase liking.

Voice. Anolli and Ciceri (2002) examined the vocal characteristics typical of males who were successful at arranging a future meeting with a female participant. In terms of speech style, the researchers found firstly that the male participants’ seductive speech style differed from their normal speech style. For example, they used a higher pitch, at a higher intensity and at an accelerated rate when asking their female partner to meet them again. Analysis of voice patterns over time showed that seduction required flexible use of their voice, modulating their vocal profiles according to the interaction. The researchers suggest that males use an orotund voice in the initial phase of seduction to impress a female. An orotund voice is one characterised by strength and clarity. Such a vocal style conveys sociability, vitality, enthusiasm, and strength and is employed to attract the interest of a potential partner. The researchers termed this phase of the interaction vocal exhibition, in which males were trying to portray themselves in an attractive light.