On a pedestal: High heels and the perceived attractiveness and evolutionary fitness of women

Transient pain and discomfort when wearing high-heeled shoes

In the dynamic world of fashion, high-heeled footwear is revered as a symbol of style, luxury and sophistication. Yet, beneath the facade of elegance of classy footwear lies the harsh reality of discomfort and pain. Thus, this study aims to investigate the influence of wearing high-heeled shoes on the sensation of pain across different body regions over a period of 6 h. It involved fifty female participants, all habitual wearers of high-heeled shoes, aged between 20 and 30 years. Each participant kept a record of their perceptions of pain and discomfort every hour for a total of 6 h using a 0-10 pain scale with 0 indicating no pain and 10 indicating severe pain. The findings reveal a progressive rise in pain throughout wear, with the most intense pain reported in the back, calcaneus, and metatarsals. The analysis shows that after approximately 3.5 h, participants experience significant increases in pain levels. However, the relationship between heel height and pain is not linear. It appears that a heel height of 7.5 cm is the threshold where overall body pain becomes significant. The study suggests that a duration of 3.5 h of wear and a heel height of 7.5 cm serve as critical points to decrease overall body pain. Moreover, beyond this heel height, knee pain diminishes compared to other body areas possibly due to the shift towards a more neutral posture. The study findings, coupled with the recommendations, can assist footwear designers in crafting not only stylish but also comfortable shoes.

The effect of attire attractiveness on students' perception of their teachers

Introduction

Generally, people do judge a book by its cover. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of teachers' attire on students' perception of 34 psychological dimensions.

Methods

The research is an experiment, with self-reported data, in groups, based on a questionnaire. The participants were 173 students (M_age = 12.16, SD = 1.74) from Suceava, Romania. Two groups of students were asked to listen to a sample lesson of a therapeutic story, narrated by a teacher. One group was given a picture of the attractive teacher and the other group a picture of the unattractive teacher, and were told that the teacher who is narrating is the teacher in the picture. After listening to the same story, the respondents had to answer a questionnaire about teachers' personality and characteristics.

Results

The results indicated that when the teacher is perceived as being more attractive, the students have a greater openness for school activities, the evaluation of the teacher's personality is more positive, the evaluation of the teaching effort is more positive, students expect a higher grade, and the perceived age of the teacher is lower.

Discussion

The article underlines the role of clothing in molding student's perception and raises questions about dress codes in schools. Implications for school context are discussed.

Is wearing high heels a female mating strategy? Revisiting the original study using qualitative methods

The 2020 study entitled ‘Wearing high heels as female mating strategy’ by Pavol Prokop and Jana Švancárová claimed that when females imagined an interaction with an attractive male, their preference for high heels steeply increased, compared with an imagined interaction with an unattractive male. The authors concluded that wearing high heels seem to be a form of sexual signaling by females in intersexual interactions. The present paper revisits this study through a psychological standpoint, rather than a biological one. In addition to proposing hypothetical dating scenarios, as in the original study, we also asked participants about how they went about getting ready to go on a date, the significance of dating to them, and their thinking behind choosing particular outfits for a date. We conducted ten focus groups (N = 50), recruiting from a similar sample of participants to those in the original study. For our study we followed principles of Thematic Analysis to identify the key themes in the narratives related to dating and beautification. We also used the photo elicitation methodology to observe what footwear our participants own. Our data interpretation from these two sources suggests that young women tend to see dates as social events not necessarily leading to sex; that they do not regard high heel shoes as a means of beautification; and that they take account of practical considerations when getting dressed up for a date. Moreover, young women tend to use beautification with caution. We conclude that the relationship between the tendency to use beautification and attractiveness of a potential partner is far from straightforward; and relying on binary responses to hypothetical scenarios does not provide convincing evidence.