Study: Men find tattooed women more approachable

Lower-back ink is seen as a green light when it comes to dating.

We can't quite decide what to make of this study. But in a recent experiment, researchers sought to find a link between women's tattoos and men's dating behavior.

The results seemed to indicate that men perceive tatted-up women as more approachable —  and more promiscuous.

Nicolas Guéguen of France's Université de Bretagne-Sud led the study, with the help of 11 straight, college-aged women. All of the women had been rated as the most attractive out of a pool of 58 other women.

For the experiment, each of the 11 women went to a beach alone on 20 different occasions. Each time, she wore a red bikini and read a book. Half of those times, the woman also sported a fake, temporary lower-back tattoo. Not sure if this is relevant, but the tattoo was of a butterfly.

At any rate, researchers found that when the women were tattooed, they were much more likely to be approached by men.

Researchers also surveyed 440 men with an average age of 22.3. These were men who were at the beach at the time of the experiment. Interviewers approached men who were within 10 meters (about 33 feet) of the subject, asking them if they would answer three questions about a woman who was "somewhere on the beach." The men were simply told it was for a study on relationships.

The interviewer then pointed out the woman in the red bikini — the subject — and asked the men various questions. They were along the lines of: How attractive is she? How likely is she to have sex on the first date? How likely is she to say yes to your advances?

The results? When the woman was tattooed, men thought she was more likely to say yes to a date and also more likely to have sex on the first date. According to a Psychology Today article on this study, Guéguen interprets the results of the study using evolution as an explanation:

"Like cosmetics or clothing, women may adorn tattoos as a way to enhance their appeal to men and, in turn, to attract more males. A woman has a better chance of choosing a mate of 'higher quality' when there are more of them from which to choose. Tattoos may then serve as an effective means to capture male attention."

Or maybe you just really like butterflies. And want one on your lumbar region.

"Along similar evolutionary lines, men are driven to mate with many women in order to spread their genes," Vinita Mehta writes in the Psychology Today piece. "Logic then dictates that they will pursue women who display more sexual receptivity."

What do you think? Does this study have legs, or is it an insult to the tattooed women among us?