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In the Game of Love, Self-Deception May Be Key
LiveScience: Hot guys tend to underestimate women's interest in them, while other men, particularly those looking for a one-night stand, are more likely to think a woman is much more into them than she actually is, a new study says. Women, however, showed the opposite bias — they routinely underestimated men's interest in them. This sort of self-deception may help both men and women play the mating game successfully, suggest the researchers, a team of psychologists from the University of Texas, Austin. The findings also fits with past research showing that guys are clueless on the subtleties of nonverbal cues from women, taking a subtle smile as a sexual come-on, for instance.
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Men who try hard get the girl: study
New Zealand Herald: We've all met men who think they're God's gift to women. No matter how many times they're rebuffed in the dating game, they always bounce back. But a study suggests those who display such a fighting spirit might be the ones favoured by evolution - the more a man believes a woman will fancy him, the more likely he is to try it on and therefore get lucky and procreate. It also suggests that if a man's super attracted to a woman, the chances are she's not interested. It claims men are wired to get it wrong time and again because evolution is telling them not to miss a mating opportunity. Read the whole story: New Zealand Herald
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In Pursuit of the Perfect Gift? It’s a Lot Closer Than You Think
The New York Times: Traditionalists and etiquette mavens are complaining, but the rest of us can thank social scientists this season. They have come up with experimental evidence to support three revolutionary rules for people who hate shopping for holiday gifts: 1. You don’t have to spend any time looking for “thoughtful” gifts. 2. You don’t have to spend much money, either. 3. Actually, you may not have to spend any money. Yes, I know this sounds too good to be true. I was skeptical, too, if only because it contradicts a previous holiday column of mine.
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The hotter the woman, the better men think chances are
msnbc: Consider Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali. They may be fictional characters on a popular sitcom, "The Big Bang Theory," but new research suggests there’s a lot of truth in how they interact with women. Wolowitz is a teeny guy with dorky hair and dorky clothes. He’s brilliant and gainfully employed, but on the attractiveness scale, he’s maybe a 2, possibly a 2 ½. Despite his physical shortcomings, though, he imagines every hot woman who glances his way wants to jump his bones. Of course, he’s always wrong. Read the full story: msnbc
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The secret to sexual success for men? Misreading whether women are interested – and having a thick skin
The Daily Mail: Lotharios who 'misread the signals' from women and assume they are more attractive than they are - and there are lots - should just be in for repeated embarasssments, you might think. But researchers now think that men who misjudge what women think of them are actually at an advantage in the mating game - as long as they keep trying. Men might actually have evolved the trait - men who misjudge whether women are interested, then 'bounce back' to ask other women, tend to eventually succeed, then go on to have more offspring. Over time, this may have led men evolving to become more thick-skinned - and to misjudge their chances even worse. Read the whole story: The Daily Mail
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Sue Shellenbarger answers readers’ questions
The Wall Street Journal: Q: Regarding your column on how IQ can change over one's lifetime, how can I find more information on the effects of musical training on cognitive skills at various ages? M.J.P., Hingham, Mass. A: Three studies are available online by searching for the titles. In "Music Lessons Enhance IQ" by E. Glenn Schellenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto in Mississauga, children who were given keyboard or voice lessons during first grade posted significantly larger gains in IQ scores at the end of the year, compared with control groups. The study appeared in 2004 in Psychological Science. Another study by Dr.
