When single, I conducted most of my flirting late at night in dark bars after a few drinks to stimulate courage. Any other time and I was a complete mute.

Perhaps, though, I should have attempted to flirt in the daytime, specifically when it’s sunny. According to a new study, women are more receptive and offer their phone numbers more often when approached during a sunny day.

“In a field quasi-experiment, 18–25-year-old women walking alone in the street were approached by an attractive 20-year-old male confederate who solicited them for their phone numbers,” Nicolas Guéguen wrote in the study‘s abstract. “The women were solicited on days that were evaluated as being either sunny or cloudy but care was taken to control for temperature and not to solicit participants when it rained. It was found that women agreed more often to the confederate’s courtship solicitation on the sunny days.”

Caution, though. The sunny day may have put the women in a better mood or caused more confidence in the men. Seriously, who wants to flirt when it’s overcast and rainy outside? Just go to a bar (and flirt there!).

Guéguen also offers another caveat: France.

“In this study, we examined the receptivity of women to a courtship request by a man because it was conducted in France where men traditionally approach women in romantic relationships,” he wrote.

Wait. Is he suggesting that French women are more open to extracurricular activities outside a steady relationship?

(Image via Flickr: Andy Cross / Creative Commons)