Who knows what women want? Nadine Hugill and Bernhard Fink of the University of Göttingen, that’s who. The German researchers exposed female test subjects to video clips of 40 different heterosexual men dancing to Robbie Williams’ “Let Me Entertain You” and quizzed them on their thoughts. Clothing, facial features — everything was blurred out except for the movements of the dancers.

According to a recent New Scientist article, the researchers found significant evidence that women use dancing ability to assess male strength and dominance — traits that signal status. The better the dancer, the more desirable the male — statistically speaking.

I’m personally not an amazing dancer. Maybe I’m too tall? But I generally approach the activity enthusiastically when I do, so I take heart in the fact that males in the study were judged on both the attractiveness of their dance and the assertiveness of it. So maybe the ladies are also impressed by sheer devotion to the music?

Anyway, it’s all worth mulling over. Play the above video to hear a live recording of the Robbie Williams track in question.  Guys, by all means, please stop what you’re doing and try dancing to it a little. See how your female coworkers, friends and fellow commuters judge your desirability as a mate.

EDIT: Incidentally,  am I the only one who finds this Williams track to be anything but an infectious groove? Why base the experiment on this particular song?

Bust a move at HowStuffWorks.com:
How Men Work
How Women Work
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Do men and women have different brains?