YOU'RE a woman. You see a man across a crowded room, the music is playing and he's looking hot - that's sexy, not heated!
No, it's not pheromones, that last glass of champagne, or even Love Potion Number Nine. It's the music.
Scientists have shown that women find men more attractive, and are more prepared to date them, after listening to music.
The more stimulating and complex the music, the greater the sexual attraction. But, sorry ladies, men don't seem to have the same reaction to you when the music plays.
A team of psychologists from the universities of Innsbruck and Vienna investigated the impact music had the attractiveness of opposite-sex faces.
Music is part of every culture, but the origin of music remains a longstanding puzzle. Why do people invest so much energy, time and money in music?
Various theories have been proposed on the biological and social aspects of music.
For instance, within the framework of his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin said music developed through sexual selection.
The motor and cognitive abilities necessary for making music serve as an indicator for good genes and thus increase the reproductive success. This is similar to the singing of birds in the mating season.
The researchers wanted to investigate the role of music in choosing a mating partner.
"Facial attractiveness is one of the most important physical characteristics that can influence the choice of a partner," said Helmut Leder from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Vienna.
"We wanted to find out how music can alter the perception of this feature.
"Since music, especially before the advent of modern technology, has always been experienced in the here and now, and mostly in a social context, it is plausible to assume that music could positively influence the visual perception of faces."
In the experiment, the scientists presented heterosexual participants with instrumental musical excerpts with various emotional content, followed by a photograph of a face from the opposite sex with a neutral expression.
The face was assessed in terms of its attractiveness on a scale. Participants were also asked to rate whether they would date the person pictured.
In the control condition, only faces without music were presented. There were three groups of participants: women in the fertile phase of their cycle, women in the non-fertile phase, and men.
The groups were similar in their musical preferences and musical training, their mood before the experiment and their relationship status.
The results showed that female participants rated the male faces as more attractive and were more willing to date the men pictured when previously exposed to music. The fertility cycle did not have a large influence on the ratings.
"Our goal is to replicate these results in a larger sample and to modify some aspects of the experiment," said Bruno Gingras from the Institute of Psychology at the University of Innsbruck.
"For example, we would like to clarify whether musical abilities and creativity can compensate partially for deficiencies in terms of physical appearance and fitness.
"There is an increasing number of empirical findings showing that music has the power to influence human behaviour with regard to partner selection."
But how can Darwin's theory be reconciled with other biological and social theories on the genesis of music?
"Music can promote social cohesion, and it also plays a role in the mother-child relationship," said study lead Manuela Marin.
"Until we understand these connections, there will be a long way to go."
