PALE, red-faced men are highly desirable to women, according to an academic.

David Perrett, psychology professor at St Andrews University, found facial redness increases a man’s sexually attractive to females.

Actor Sam Heughan, who stars in the US TV series Outlander, is seen as a perfect example of such men.

The research, co-written by Mr Perrett also found balance is key because faces that are too red can often work as a turn-off due to their association with anger.

He noted: “Faces convey a wide range of important cues that are detected and interpreted as social information to influence person perception.

“On the other hand [too much] male facial redness also contributes to perceptions of aggression, dominance and anger, which might highly influence attractiveness ratings.”

During the study, Mr Perrett and his team academics asked more than 500 heterosexual females to look at images of anonymous, Caucasian faces with a range of facial redness.

They then judged the photographs on overall attractiveness, sexual attractiveness and rated them on how honest and intelligent the women believed each man was.

The research shows redder faces were deemed healthier than neutral faces and almost one-third were seen as being more sexually attractive to participants. Honesty and intelligence ratings also increased.

The research followed a study conducted by Mr Perrett where he found facial redness also influenced perceptions of attractiveness for men viewing women.