Flowers traditionally have a lot of common associations with romance: picking the petals off wondering if he loves you or not, exchanging corsages and boutonnieres for prom, or their huge role in weddings. But in the beginning of new relationships, one of the most common questions I’ve seen men ask is “Should I bring my date flowers?” In numerous online forums, including ours here at eHarmony, recommendations on whether or not to bring flowers seem to really depend on who you ask.
What kind of effects can flowers really have on dating and romantic relationships? A recent study by Nicolas Guéguen (2011) investigated the association between flowers and the effect on human romantic behavior. Namely the author was interested in how they can alter women’s attractiveness ratings for men and their dating behavior. In a series of studies, women were shown into a room and asked to watch a video with a young man describing his food habits. In the first study, the room would either have three vases of mixed flowers which included roses, French marigolds, and daisies around the room or none at all based on predetermined assignments to the different conditions. After viewing the video, women were asked to rate the attractiveness of the man in the video. In an extension of this, the second study added a male aide that was supposedly also participating in a separate room and would interact with the woman after her viewing the video, and would ask her for her phone number to ask her out on a date. From these studies, the researchers were able to look at how the presence of flowers can affect attractiveness ratings and their willingness of dating behaviors.
The first study showed women in the flowered room rated the young man in the video significantly more physically attractive, sexually attractive, and more willing to date him than those without flowers in the room. The second study also showed that women who had viewed the video in the flowered room were more likely to accept the aide’s offer and give him their phone number. In the flowerless condition, only half of the women accepted the aide’s offer, whereas 81 percent of the women in the flowered room gave the aide their number.
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I think it is not a good idea to bring her flowrs if you are planning to meet her somewhere say at a park, restaurant, movie theatre etc. She will not be comfortable with this. But if you are picking her say from home
then definitly I would bring flowers on first date, it looks romantic and appropriate too.
Shawn, bless you, you are a romantic.
Men know that most women love flowers, any flowers. Whether it’s a bouquet of expensive roses or orchids, or a handful of daisies from his neighbors’ yard, flowers have a lot of impact on most women. It is an acknowledgement of femininity. It is thoughtful. It means a man went out of his way to do something special. It means, in short, SHE’S WORTH IT. Flowers pack a wallop. Have you ever been in an office when someone’s received flowers from her man? Every woman who walks by for the next three days, ooohhhs and aaahhhs and coo’s over them as if they were diamonds; sometimes the same women 2 or 3 times. And they say how wonderful your man is. I wish men my age understood just what an impact flowers have on a woman’s attitude toward him. Again, they don’t have to be expensive; he can just walk in with a little bouquet from the grocery store or a farmer’s market, and he’ll still make an impact. The men out there who ‘get it’ that flowers are joy-bringers, we love you.
I am in my 50′s, I agree that if you pick up a woman from her home it would be appropriate to bring her flowers….”IF” you really believed this woman could be important to you, but if you have serious reservations about the woman be careful what messages you send her.
Flowers. Such a simple gesture and so worth it!!
I’m a 23 year old female… and personally there is only one flower I actually like. I just don’t like getting flowers…they smell funny and die too easily.
Having said that, it is a very caring gesture and appreciated when a man shows his affections in such a way. I wouldn’t be mad if I got flowers… they just don’t make me melt inside. Now if he got me a box of nerds I’m his forever! lol.