Bikini-clad Women Make Men Impatient

Women s Lingerie Authors Bram Van den Bergh, Siegfried DeWitte, and Luk Warlop(KULeuven, Belgium) found that the desire for immediate rewardsincreased in men who touched bras, looked at pictures of beautifulwomen, or watched video clips of young women in bikinis runningthrough a park. “It seems that sexual appetite causes a greater urgency toconsume anything rewarding,” the authors suggest. Thus, theactivation of sexual desire appears to spill over into other brainsystems involved in reward-seeking behaviors, even the cognitivedesire for money. “After they touched a bra, men are more likely to be contentwith a smaller immediate monetary reward,” writes Bram Vanden Bergh, one of the study’s authors. “Prior exposureto sexy stimuli may influence the choice between chocolate cake orfruit for dessert.” The authors believe the stimuli bring men’s minds to thepresent as opposed to the future. “The study demonstratesthat bikinis cause a shift in time preference: Men live in the hereand now when they glance at pictures featuring women in lingerie.That is, men will choose the immediately available rewards and seekimmediate gratification after sex cue exposure.” Do all straight men respond the same? Actually, no. Some men arehighly responsive to rewards while others are not so sensitive, andthe more reward-sensitive men are the impatient ones. In fact, doing a task designed to inspire financial satisfactionreduced the bikini-inspired impatience, just as feeling fullreduces food cravings. Men may want to be aware of bikinis’effects on their bank accounts and waistlines.