Women remember how you look

Women are better than men at remembering the appearance of others, demonstrates a study by researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus. The gender difference in appearance memory was not great, but it shows another area where women are superior to men in interpersonal sensitivity, theorizes Terrence Horgan, lead author and research fellow in psychology.

"Women have an advantage when it comes to remembering things like the physical features, clothing, and postures of other people," Horgan says. "This advantage might be due to women being slightly more people-oriented than men are."

The study also found that men and women did better at remembering the appearance of women than they did recollecting how men looked. Women in general may be more memorable than men because their hair and clothing styles and use of jewelry tend to be more varied than that of men. For example, in many offices, men may look similar in their suits and ties, yet women may wear necklaces and earrings, or have other jewelry or clothing that makes their appearances stand out more.

However, the results suggest women are not more memorable because people spend more time looking at them. Participants in the study did not look at women any longer than they looked at men.

"We really don't know for sure why women have an advantage at remembering how others look," Horgan confesses. "But these results go along with studies that show women are better than men in other areas having to do with interpersonal sensitivity."

For example, various studies have shown women have an advantage at using nonverbal cues to understand how others are feeling, and how they are likely to behave. Women also appear to be better at using nonverbal cues to figure out someone's personality traits.

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