Chief editor of the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior withdrew it published almost five years ago a scientific article under the title “High heels increase the attractiveness of women.”
The journal specified that article by the French author Nicolas Gegana was withdrawn at the request of the University of South Brittany, where he is a Professor of social psychology.
“The institutional investigation concluded that this article contains methodological flaws and statistical errors. Thus, these data cannot be considered reliable,” – said in an official statement about the recall work.
Removing the article for several years sought Nick brown and James Hiders – a pair of scientists, known for his exposés of unscrupulous research.
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The Professor himself Gegan not responded to the request of Bi-bi-si to comment on the news about the recall of their work.
Under the heel
The conclusions of the article “High heels increase the attractiveness of women” based on the results of three allegedly conducted experiments.
In one of them the woman asked strangers to answer a few survey questions on gender equality. One is addressed with a similar request not only to men but also to women. The third was just walking down the street and “accidentally lost” the glove in front of other pedestrians of both sexes.
Each experiment was conducted three times: the first time a woman was wearing black shoes on a flat sole, the second with a heel height of five centimeters, and the third nine inches.
“The willingness to help from men was increased with increasing heel height. However, the behavior of women heel height had no effect”, – stated in the work.
“As possible explanations are changes of gait, assessment of the size of the foot and incorrect attribution of sexual attraction and sexual intentions,” the author concludes.
The holder иллюстрацииGETTY IMAGES
Image captionСтатья Professor Gegan was used to writing about two dozen other scientific work
The study attracted the attention of a graduate student from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands named Nick brown, who found the article Nicolas Gegana some controversial arguments seemed to him extremely suspicious.
Brown called on the help of several colleagues in the scientific community, including James Hizarsa from northeastern University in Boston and Alan Sokal from new York University – author of a notorious scientific fraud named after him.
Together brown and Hyzers mathematically proved the impossibility is given in the article, the French Professor of statistics, as told in detail in the journal Science.
The silence of the author
After that they contacted one of the former students (or students) Nicolas Gegana, who conducted the experiment as part of one of his University courses.
“Because we were working without any supervision, but received credit for the course, many students simply took the data of the experiment from the ceiling. I can confirm that personally invented his experiment from beginning to end, and I know that many have done the same,” – said an unnamed informant.
“Dr. Gegan never mentioned that the results of our work can be published,” he says.
Hyzers and brown sent the results of its investigation to the University of South Brittany – and eventually the University administration asked the journal to withdraw the controversial article.
The holder иллюстрацииUNIVERSITÉ BRETAGNE SUD
Image captionВ the library of the University of South Brittany
The Professor himself, Nicolas Gegan has consistently refused to comment on the matter, although various publications have repeatedly appealed to him with such a request.
On the website of the University of South Brittany stated that it continues to be led there one of the laboratories.
In addition, according to the database of scientific publications, since publication in November 2014 to become a Professor Gegan was used to writing about two dozen other scientific work.
Among them – “curve of the back as a signal of sexual flirting by women (based on direction of view)”, “Cultural and aesthetic analysis of some of the most challenging fashion trends among celebrities,” and “Why do women wear high heels: the evolution of the curvature of the lumbar and attractiveness”.
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