Getting Hot Is More Than Just a Phrase, Science Says

Getting Hot Is More Than Just a Phrase, Science Says

By Ksenia Sobchak

Getting hot under the collar is more than just a simple attraction: getting touch on the hand or face is enough to send female body temperatures soaring, according to scientists from the University of St Andrews.

Talk about natural blusher!

A slight touch from a male counterpart can stimulate a rise in body temperature and can increase blood-flow, causing your face to naturally pinken up for a more attractive appearance. Thermal photography was used during testing this theory, and the facts speak for themselves: the body change was more pronounced when touched in personal areas like the hands or face, and women reacted more to the touch of a man than to another woman.

It’s all about the numbers

During testing, the women’s facial temperature rose by an average of 0.1°C which is small, but measurable. That temperature rose to around 0.46°C around the mouth, 0.3°C around the eyes, and 0.2°C around the nose when the test subject was touched by a man. And before you let your imagination run away with you: the subjects were told that the testing involved measuring, so they were sitting patiently while the examiner measured their skin temperature in four different places.

All hot and bothered

The rise in temperature and attractive reddening of the cheeks are all an outward signal to the opposite sex that we find them hunky-dory and totally attractive. Like peacocks, our bodies puff themselves up to highlight their most attractive bits and give us a touch of natural blusher. You can’t fake that kind of attraction!

Like Amanda Hahn, the project leader for this social experiment, said: “If such changes in facial temperature during social contact are detectable by observers or the individual, they could act as social cues.”

A rise in temperature is not immediately noticeable, but you know how hot under the collar you can get when close to your crush or your partner. Perhaps it’s just our bodies telling us to lose the clothes?