This month we find out what a woman wants in a man can tell us about the type of relationship she desires, and why seeing red puts men in the mood for love. Also, finding it difficult to convince women to give you their phone number? We discover a simple method of doubling your success rate: buy a guitar!

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Would you give your phone number to this man? Nicolas Gueguen has found that women are more likely to give their digits to a fireman or to a man with a guitar.

The articles covered in the show:

Goetz, C. D. (2013). What do women’s advertised mate preferences reveal? An analysis of video dating profiles. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(2), 383-391. Read paper

Prokop, P., & Hromada, M. (in press). Women use red in order to attract mates. Ethology. Read summary

Guéguen, N., Meineri, S., & Fischer-Lokou, J. (in press). Men’s music ability and attractiveness to women in a real-life courtship context. Psychology of Music. Read summary

The Olympics are upon us, but what's the point of all that hard work? Except for the gold medals, glory and lucrative sponsorship deals that is. We also find out how a brief writing exercise can make you a sucker for a cheap chat up line, and why the Mormons had it right about polygamy the first time.

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Nice one, Mo. But seriously, what was the point? Jon Connell/Flickr

The articles covered in the show:

Brewer, G., & Howarth, S. (2012). Sport, attractiveness and aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(5), 640-643. Read summary

Lewandowski Jr, G. W., Ciarocco, N. J., Pettanato, M., & Stephan, J. (in press). Pick me up: Ego depletion and receptivity to relationship initiation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary

Starkweather, K. E., & Hames, R. (in press). A survey of non-classical polyandry. Human Nature. Read summary

Does being attractive always help? We discover the social advantages that come with being slightly less than supermodel material. Also, do attractive people have attractive brothers and sisters, and where are all the female comedians? Do women prefer hearing jokes to telling them?

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Same-sex siblings, like the Kardashian sisters, tend to be similar in attractiveness. But what about opposite-sex siblings?

If you find the section on humour interesting, you might like this episode in which I interview Norm Li about his humour research.

The articles covered in the show:

Agthe, M., Spörrle, M., & Maner, J. K. (2011). Does being attractive always help? Positive and negative effects of attractiveness on social decision making. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(8), 1042-1054. Read summary

Garver-Apgar, C. E., Eaton, M. A., Tybur, J. M., & Emery Thompson, M. (in press). Evidence of intralocus sexual conflict: physically and hormonally masculine individuals have more attractive brothers relative to sisters. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

Wilbur, C. J., & Campbell, L. (2011). Humor in romantic contexts: Do men participate and women evaluate? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(7), 918-929. Read summary

Does it pay to be pretty? I talk to Markus Jokela about his research into the link between attractiveness and how many children a person has. Also, do opposites really do attract, and what makes an effective chat up line?

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This month I talk to Markus Jokela about his new research, which shows that attractive people tend to have more children. But I guess Brad and Angie already knew that, right?

Jokela, M. (In Press). Physical attractiveness and reproductive success in humans: evidence from the late 20th century United States. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

Judge, T. A., Hurst, C., & Simon, L. S. (2009). Does it pay to be smart, attractive, or confident (or all three)? Relationships among general mental ability, physical attractiveness, core self-evaluations, and income. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3), 742-755. Read summary

van Straaten, I., Engels, R. C. M. E., Finkenauer, C., & Holland, R. W. (2009). Meeting your match: how attractiveness similarity affects approach behavior in mixed-sex dyads. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(6), 685-697. Read summary

Wade, T. J., Butrie, L. K., & Hoffman, K. M. (2009). Women’s direct opening lines are perceived as most effective. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(2), 145-149. Read summary