Unless you have been living in a hole i’m sure you have read or heard the news about blondes being more ‘warlike’ and ‘aggressive’ than their counterparts. What you may not have heard is that this is flawed reporting. Aaron Sell, the author of the study that apparently cited blonde girls as suffering from the ‘princess effect’ (an overriding desire to get their own way), has gone public in stating that this was NOT what his study uncovered. He feels so strongly about this that he has taken the bold step of correcting through comments on blogs and articles referencing the study; particularly those referencing the ‘warlike blondes’.
This is his comment on the subject:
“I’m afraid you, and thousands of others for that matter, have been badly misinformed. I have never done any research that shows blondes are more aggressive, entitled, angry or “warlike” than brunette or redheads. This error was the result of a piece in the London Sunday Times.
If you’d like to see my actual research, which shows that attractive women are more prone to anger, feel more entitled, and believe they win more conflicts of interest then you can see the actual article and the press release here: http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/topics/anger.htm
Note that the words “blonde” or even “hair” never appear there.
The writer Ryan Sager has reported accurately on the story here:
http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2010/01/18/science-reporting-gone-wild/
Aaron Sell, PhD
Center for Evolutionary Psychology
University of California, Santa Barbara”
In fact, the study did produce a good story in itself, that attractive girls in general often feel entitled. Talk about making something unnecessarily sensationalized. I would have happy read the original article. How a well respected paper can get away with such a thing I do not know.
You can read the original Times article here.
You can read the Ryan Sager True Slant article, referenced by Aaron Sell here.
