Although there may be many things that we stress about in life, one of the stresses that affects many men is losing their hair. From the time they hit their 30s, they start watching the shower drain for evidence that they may be thinning on top. Unfortunately, many men tend to lose their hair by that time of life, and by the time they reach middle age, they may have more hair off of their head than they have on their head!
Science has not come up with a way to grow hair back or to help keep the hair on our head but they have come up with something just as good. According to a scientific study performed in 2012, the perception of old men may just make it well worth losing your hair and keeping it off for good. For one, being bald increases your perceived height by about an inch and if you are lacking in hair, you don’t appear threatening but you are socially dominant.
This study was performed by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania. It also talks about how women view balder men as well. They tend to view them as more masculine and as stronger individuals. Just take a look at some of the bald actors and you will see that they are quite popular as well.
The study involved about 60 people who were shown multiple images of a few men. In the first picture, the man would have a normal amount of hair but in the second picture, they were completely bald.
There was a second set of comparison pictures that were digitally altered but it showed the individual without hair. In almost every case, the test subject would find the bald image to be more attractive and appealing.
There have also been other studies about our perception of baldness and they share the same results.
Researchers from Barry University in Florida, for example, were looking into why baldness was continually changing.
According to one of the doctors, he speculated that male pattern baldness may have developed as a result of trying to be non-threatening, although dominant.
This particular study focused on how baldness was perceived in a number of different ways. This will include social maturity, honesty, status, attractiveness and intelligence.
The results of this study were very similar. Bald men would score higher on all of the tests and it went right in line with the study from the University of Pennsylvania.
In the Barry University study, physical attractiveness was not as big of a factor but it was still a factor, nonetheless.
“It could be speculated that although the characteristic of baldness decreases a man’s perceived physical attractiveness, it increases his perceived social dominance,” said Dr. Muscarella.
“There is a large body of literature that shows that although women like physically attractive men, they are also very attracted to signs of high social dominance.”
The University of Saarland also wrote a research paper that showed women perceived a bald man as being more intelligent. This falls in line with the results from the other studies.
If shaving your head were a decision rather than a necessity, it may mean that you are making a statement. According to Seth Godden, a bald yet successful entrepreneur, there are a number of examples of bald individuals who are pioneers in entrepreneurship. This would include Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft.
“I’m not saying that shaving your head makes you successful, but it starts the conversation that you’ve done something active.”
It’s interesting to note that these results are for people who have absolutely no hair. If a man is dealing with some bald spots, they are typically perceived as less physically attractive and weaker.
Do you know somebody who is stressing about being bald? Let them know that there is no need to worry. Science has their back.