It’s Science: Other Guys Will Check Out Your Girlfriend When She Wears Red

Time for a quick lesson in human psychology and sexuality.

You know that feeling of possessiveness you get when you catch someone checking out your woman? That’s called mate-guarding, and it’s an evolutionary strategy we’ve been using for a long time to ‘guard’ our partners from extra-pair relationships. In layman’s terms, it’s our way of keeping someone else’s greedy hands off bae.

Many things can trigger a that’s-my-woman-goddamnit response, including partner hotness, the strength of your feelings for her and just plain old jealousy. Aside from those obvious factors, researchers recently discovered that when women wear red, men show a lot more mate-guarding, suggesting that red really is the color of sex and passion, and women generally look incredible in red. 

For the study, 223 young couples were recruited and given this scenario to imagine: the girlfriend goes out with her friends, sans boyfriend, and she’s either wearing a red dress or a black dress.

When asked about how they felt about the two dresses in the same scenario, men reported higher mate-guarding when they pictured their girlfriends going out in a red dress as opposed to a black dress. 

Researchers suggest that wearing red can increase a woman’s sexual attractiveness, and it can drive other men to approach her because of how hot she looks. That may be why you’re subconsciously a little more possessive when your lady wears red.

Red is a very powerful color psychology-wise, so it only makes sense. Think about it—when you get aroused, there’s more blood pumping near the surface of your skin, so you’re flushed red, hence being the color of sexuality. There’s a lot of psychology and priming behind it, but just know that red is the color of desire and seduction. Plain and simple.

So, if your lovely lady goes out wearing something red and you feel your silverback senses tingling, don’t get salty. She’s not going on a hoe bender. Other men may check her out, but it’s only because she looks damn hot. That said, you should be proud that you get to sleep with that hot and desirable woman. Good for you.