Chat-up lines, and other openings used to initiate a relationship with a woman, can be viewed as male displays. How well does their effectiveness accord with predictions from evolutionary psychology? 205 undergraduates (142 female, 63 male) rated 40 vignettes; in each vignette, a man approached a woman and the raters judged whether she would continue the conversation. Openings involving jokes, empty compliments and sexual references received poor ratings. Those revealing, e.g., helpfulness, generosity, athleticism, ‘culture’ and wealth, were highly rated. Although the length of the vignette—confounded here with item content—affected the rating, differences remained after the effects of length were eliminated. The success of openings which demonstrated culture was predicted from Miller’s (2000) ‘mating mind’ hypothesis; the success of others could be predicted from patterns of parental investment.
nice findings..interesting.. I like how it was specified as “empty compliments”, because you can certainly convey a heartful or honest compliment all with just your eyes and tone of voice.
i’ll just stick with pulling their hair and asking them if they’ve put on some weight.
heh, the young ones would probably bitch at you first, but make out with you the next..because your “oh so bad”.
I agree about jokes and sexual comments not working.. I immediately switch off if someone says ANYTHING of that nature to me with the intent of chatting me up.
its so lame 