Bald men more confident, attractive

New York, September 17

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Worried about losing your hair? Take a breath from a study that claims that bald men are perceived as more attractive, confident, and dominant.

"Choosing to dispense with one's hair is arguably a form of nonverbal behaviour, a form of expression which communicates information about the self otherwise difficult to observe," researchers from The University of Pennsylvania.

The team gave three major tests to college students, both men and women, asking them to rate images of men according to attractiveness, confidence and dominance.

In the first study, men with shaved heads were rated as more dominant than similar men with full heads of hair.

In the second study, men whose hair was digitally removed were perceived as more dominant, taller, and stronger than their authentic selves.

This effect was due to a large degree by their higher perceived confidence and masculinity, the researchers noted.

The third study extended these results with non-photographic stimuli and demonstrates how men experiencing natural hair loss may improve their interpersonal standing by shaving.

Thus, instead of spending billions each year trying to reverse or cure their hair loss, the counterintuitive prescription of this research to men experiencing male pattern baldness is to shave their heads, the researchers emphasised.

Doing so will increase their interpersonal standing on a host of dominance-related traits, including their potential for leadership, they said. — IANS