Country songstress Taylor Swift thinks there's a "really interesting charisma" about bad boys.

The 22-year-old star has enjoyed a colourful love life, with X Factor US co-host Mario Lopez recently confirming that things were hotting up between her and One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles.

Swift - who has been romantically linked to a string of men including Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal and musician John Mayer - has explained the appeal of wayward males.  

She told Parade: "There’s a really interesting charisma involved. They usually have a lot to say, and even if they don’t, they know how to look at you to say it all. I think every girl’s dream is to find a bad boy at the right time, when he wants to not be bad anymore."

Swift's personal life is rarely out of the spotlight, and the star sometimes finds the attention surrounding her hard to deal with.

She continued: "I don't know necessarily how much privacy I’m entitled to, but I know I don’t get much of it. At the same time, I asked for this. I could be playing in a coffee house. I’d be happy doing that, [but] not as happy, probably.

"Knowing that people are going to hear the music I make is the most amazing feeling. Knowing that there are dudes waiting outside my house with cameras, hiding in the bushes, is a less awesome feeling." Watch the video for Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' here: