The following is an actual news story on the Internet (so it must be true):
Carrying a guitar can increase the chances of getting a man a woman's number
by a third, a study by researchers from the University of South Brittany has
found.
The research showed women were 31 per cent more likely to give out their
number if a man was carrying a guitar – twice the number of people who
parted with their details when he was empty-handed.
This of course is no news to us rock fans. After all, attracting females
is why we took up playing the guitar in the first place. In fact,
carrying a guitar is only second to carrying a puppy in attracting the
attention of the fairer sex.
But a man carrying a sports bag had a success rate of only nine per cent.
That's because showing he's interested in sports will only attract other men. Women aren't that impressed that a man spends his time and money at a gym.
Women carrying guitars, however, did not experience the same boost in their
chances of securing a date.
Yeah, men usually aren't the ones who want to be serenaded. Who is a guitar playing woman trying to attract, other women?
The study, which was led by Professor Nicolas Gueguen, who specialises in
behavioural sciences at the University, instructed a 20-year-old man to
approach 300 women aged between 18 and 22 while they were shopping in
Brittany. Gueguen's findings mirror those from a study carried out by the University of Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion University last year.
In the Israeli study, 100 single women were sent Facebook friend requests with a message that said: 'I like your photo'. Half of the respondents were sent a request by a man seen strumming a guitar in his profile picture. The other half were sent a request from the same person, but this time he was empty handed.
Only five (10%) of the 50 women accepted the request, or replied to the message sent by the empty-handed man. Yet 28% accepted the request, or replied to the message sent by the man holding a guitar.
The
French researchers attribute these findings to the fact that playing a
musical instrument is a sign that the man is intelligent, can learn, or
is willing to learn, new skills and has independent hobbies.
This also means that the man is romantic and interested in attracting women. It also means that hanging out with him might involve parties, concerts and other events that people interested in art and music might attend, rather than football, baseball and basketball games.
They
believe there may also be a link between how musicians are portrayed in
the media, and that holding a guitar is a sign of wealth and status.
No duh. This dude might end up being a millionaire rockstar some day. At the very least he's the center of attention whenever his band plays and being with the most popular boy at a party is always a big turn on for the ladies.
The
team from the University of South Brittany also wanted to test whether
the same theory was true when it came to female musicians. Gueguen's team repeated the Israeli study, but used females to send the friend requests. He found there was no difference in the response rate of the men she sent requests to whether she was holding a guitar or not. This suggests that its only women who consider playing an instrument to be an attractive trait.
I wouldn't be any more turned on by a girl playing guitar than I would by a girl holding a baseball bat or a basketball. Maybe it's because I'm a musician myself but I'm looking for female fans not competition. I'm wondering if you really need to be carrying a guitar or if just and empty guitar case would do the trick. That way my arm wouldn't get so tired carrying around that much weight all day.
