Behaviors That Attract People The Most

Attraction can be tricky, which is part of why dating is so tough. When it comes to true attraction, it's not surprising to learn that one's physical appearance plays an integral role. However, there's actually much more to attraction than meets the eye. And while a vast array of studies have revealed that a person's attraction to others is based upon many different factors, including his or her biological predispositions, unconscious desires, as well as his or her personal upbringing and background, this isn't the entire picture. It's important to recognize the key behaviors that have been proven to attract other people the most, and the best part is that all of these behaviors can be easily applied and integrated into your life right now. These are the behaviors that attract people the most, so go ahead and start using them.

When looking to draw others toward you, another important component entails paying attention to a person's verbal and nonverbal cues as well as honing in on his or her body language. In other words, you're not only listening to what this person's saying to you, but you're also concentrating on how he or she's saying it. 

For example, is this person shouting, breathing heavily, whispering, or whimpering? Are their hands in fists, are their arms crossed, or are they nervously shaking back and forth? If your goal is to be attractive, alluring, and eye-catching to another person, it means that you should strive to listen with your ears as well as your eyes. Further, an additional aspect of this type of engaged listening is found in your ability to rephrase what's been expressed to you when you're crafting your response. 

Not only does this directly show the speaker that you are fully committed to listening to what they expressed to you without any disruptions, but it also builds a sense of intimacy, empathy, and understanding between the two of you because you're demonstrating that you want to completely comprehend what's been said. So instead of responding with a short, vague reply, your commitment to rephrasing and putting in your own words what was expressed helps make you closer to the speaker and shows that you truly value and care about what they have communicated to you. And it's this kind of behavior that others find very attractive.

Volunteering not only helps your community, but it's also been found to benefit your health. Much like mindfulness, it can even boost your attractiveness. As part of a 2013 study, researchers polled men and women and asked them to rate the attractiveness of people demonstrating a "helping" behavior and people demonstrating another type of behavior. Those engaged in helping behaviors — both men and women — were rated as significantly more attractive as long-term sexual partners. The researchers hypothesized that helping behavior may signify "good genes." They may also demonstrate a person's potential as a parent. 

When it came to short-term relationships, altruism also had a positive effect on the attractiveness of men, but not of women. A woman's volunteer spirit is apparently a non-factor for men seeking a fling. But, if you're looking for a more serious relationship, forget those bars and coffee shops and invite your date to your local soup kitchen.

They say that laughter is the best medicine, but it's also one of the best ways to attract others and draw people toward you. Not only does laughter have innumerable advantages for both your physical and emotional health, but it's also advantageous for others to be around someone who's fun and full of laughter. Specifically, when a person laughs, he or she's helping to improve his or her circulation, oxygen intake, and overall mood while simultaneously lowering the stress levels in his or her body as well as his or her perception of pain. 

With this in mind, it's no wonder that people are instantly drawn to those who like to laugh and can make them laugh. Laughter has the power to provide them with an instant feel-good sensation throughout their entire body. Laughter also helps to create an instant bond and understanding between you and those around you. By laughing together, you're laying the groundwork for a strong attraction, connection, and relationship.

While the smell of your body's natural pheromones plays a role in attracting others, there are ways that you can enhance your own scent and therefore enhance your ability to draw others toward you. The trick is to smell like vanilla. 

First, it's been found that vanilla is a universally pleasant aroma, and it even has the power to elicit happy memories from childhood in those who smell it. To that end, people can be automatically more attracted to you simply because of the feelings of happiness that your scent can trigger inside of them. Further, it's been shown that when people take a whiff of a vanilla scent, it also helps them to feel more calm and comfortable. It's not too surprising that people will likely be more attracted and drawn to you and your aura because they'll feel more at ease when they're around you. 

As noted in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, research has revealed that the scent of vanilla can help to reduce stress and anxiety, which further demonstrates its importance when your goal is to make yourself more appealing to others. It's also not too surprising that vanilla is a very popular scent found in many of today's self-care products, such as shampoos, conditioners, lotions, perfumes, soaps, lip balms, and more. Isn't it worth adding vanilla into your daily routine?

Acting in a confident way is an extremely important behavior in both your personal and professional lives, and it plays a major role in attracting others toward you. As noted in a study in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, when individuals were feeling more confident, others rated them as appearing more physically attractive. Unsurprising if you consider that if someone is projecting self-loathing and self-doubt, you're likely going to be put off.

On the flip side, when someone is acting in a confident and self-assured way, you'll likely be drawn to this person and feed off of the kind of positive energy that he or she's exuding. Research from Washington State University revealed that acting in a confident way can be more powerful, important, and alluring to others than being correct. This means that simply projecting confidence is strong enough to attract others to you, even if what you're saying is untrue, baseless, or entirely wrong. 

So how do you become more confident in your daily life? There are many different practices and exercises that can help to boost your self-esteem: volunteering, working out, ridding your mind of negative thoughts, starting a new hobby, meditating, spending time with loved ones, and engaging in self-improvement projects like redecorating and reorganizing.

Research has shown that an individual can appear far more enticing when he or she is out with a pet, as animals often become magnets that draw people together. They can even help to provide an easy conversation topic and icebreaker. With that in mind, it's not surprising that pet ownership can play a large part in attracting potential dates and romantic partners, both online and in person. 

Many singles use their cats and dogs as a way to get the attention of other possible suitors, whether this is through online photos or when meeting in person. Further, when these potential dates interact favorably with their pets, this behavior can help to make these individuals appear even more appealing and attractive. Not only can pets be beneficial to a healthy social life, but to a healthy body as well. 

It's been found that pet ownership can be advantageous to your physical and mental health in numerous ways, as it's been shown to help lessen stress and anxiety, lower your blood pressure, and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Pet ownership can also give you a much-needed sense of purpose, fulfillment, and companionship, as pets can help you to combat feelings of loneliness and depression by improving your overall mood, temperament, and well-being. To that end, the kind of love and affection that pets provide can help you attract others, as the bond you have with your pet can aid in your ability to exude positivity, confidence, and self-worth.

Could the car you choose to drive and the apartment you choose to rent impact your love life? In a 2014 study, volunteers were asked to rate the attractiveness of a man or woman pictured standing in either a luxury apartment, thus being of "high status,"or a run-of-the-mill apartment, which would demonstrate a "neutral status." "The male model was rated significantly more attractive when presented to females in the high status compared to the neutral status context and was also adjudged to be significantly more attractive than the female target superimposed on an identical background," the study revealed. However, men rated women in the luxury apartment and standard apartment to be equally attractive.

In an earlier study, a similar test was conducted with a high-status vehicle, a silver Bentley Continental GT, and a neutral-status vehicle, a red Ford Fiesta ST. Men who appeared to own the Bentley were perceived as "significantly more attractive." As was the case in the 2014 study, status didn't affect how the men rated the women's attractiveness. Ladies, if you've found yourself swiping right for men in swanky cars or apartments, well, now you know why.

The benefits of mindfulness are abundant. According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness can reduce stress and rumination, increase your focus and memory, and even boost your relationship satisfaction. A 2015 study also proved that mindfulness has the ability to influence romantic attraction. Say what? 

Through a speed-dating experiment, researchers from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland and the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University in Australia reviewed the effects of "dispositional mindfulness" on attraction. This form of mindfulness is sometimes referred to as trait mindfulness. Essentially, someone who practices dispositional or trait mindfulness is both aware of and considers their thoughts and feelings while in the moment.

By the end of the study, the psychologists found that women were more attracted to men who had a higher level of dispositional mindfulness. The male participants, however, were still more attracted to women who were "more physically attractive." That said, this was the first time a study like this had been conducted and, since then, the art of mindfulness has become more mainstream. Could men eventually become more attracted to mindfulness than physical attractiveness? Hmm.

When you agree with someone, how do you show it? If you nod your head, you may be surprised to learn that this small act influences others to perceive you as more attractive. For real.

After having male and female volunteers watch clips of computer-generated figures either nodding their head, shaking their head, or remaining still, researchers in Japan asked the men and women to rate the simulated people's attractiveness, likability, and approachability (via EurekAlert!). Nodding was found to increase approachability by a whopping 40 percent and likability by 30 percent. These results were consistent among both men and women. "Our study also demonstrated that nodding primarily increased likability attributable to personality traits, rather than to physical appearance," Jun-ichiro Kawahara, one of the study's researchers and an associate professor at Hokkaido University, said in a public release (via EurekAlert!). 

While the researchers said more studies need to be performed to fully determine the real-world effects of nodding, there's nothing that really prevents us from conducting our own experiments, right?