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.”

The researchers found that when the women heard a love song before Antoine hit on them, they were more likely to accept his advances — 52 percent of these women gave him their phone number. On the other hand, only 28 percent of women who heard neutral songs responded to Antoine’s flirting — suggesting that the romantic music boosted his chances because it may have stirred up positive emotions in the women who heard the love song.

“Our results confirm that the effect of exposure to media content is not limited to violence and could have the potential to influence a high spectrum of behavior,” researcher Nicolas Guéguen said. “The results are interesting for scientists who work on the effect of background music on individuals’ behavior.”

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Source:

Love ballad leaves women more open to a date. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100618112139.htm