A French study found that men are more helpful and nicer to women wearing high heels than those who wear flats. The study is the first to look at how a woman's shoe style influences a man's behavior.

Researchers from the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France conducted a field experiment to determine the effect of shoe styles to the men's helping behavior depending on the woman's shoes.

Study author Nicolas Guéguen conducted four social experiments involving a woman for the study. The woman wore flat shoes, medium-heeled shoes, and high heels. Regardless of the heel height, the shoes were black, fashionable, and professional, according to the Washington Post.

For the first two experiments, a woman wearing busines-casual clothes asked random people to complete a survey in the street. The third experiment observed the reactions of people when a woman dropped her glove. On the last test, the woman was sent to a bar to measure how fast men will approach her depending on her shoes.

The social experiments showed that men are more helpful and quicker to approach a woman in high heels.

"Women's shoe heel height exerts a powerful effect on men's behavior," said Guéguen in a press release.

The study's implications indicate that men focus more women's physical attributes. Researchers presume that men might be associating high heels with attractive models.

The study was published in the Nov. 19 issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior.