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Seduction is a complex game full of expectations, small extraverbal clues, cultural conditioning, and even hormonal variations. The game strategy of men when they try to seduce women is known. The psychological tactics and tricks that women use are not so clear.
Women don’t like vulnerable men
Seduction tactics range from getting the most out of physical appearance to taking off the engagement ring or lying directly to generate false impressions and attract the other person. However, the seduction game begins much earlier: when we choose the person on whom we will focus our efforts.
A study conducted at Brunel University found that women, like men, are able to pick up on signs that a person is more vulnerable or easier to seduce, pressure, cheat, or even manipulate to have sex. However, unlike men, women do not find these signs attractive or desirable.
These psychologists asked 151 young women to rate 110 photos of men indicating how attractive they were for having casual sex or establishing a long-term stable relationship. They were also asked to indicate how easy they believed it would be to seduce, pressure or trick them into having sex.
They then cataloged each photo according to “signs of vulnerability”, such as being shy, young, dreamy, immature, reckless, or having drunk too much. These researchers wanted to know if women found attractive the typical signs of sexual vulnerability that some men detect and take advantage of.
They found that women can identify men who would be easier to pressure, cheat, and seduce, but they don’t find those signs appealing. “Overall, we found no evidence of ‘game’ or exploitation strategies in the women’s toolbox”, the study noted.
It is important to make a parenthesis to understand that many of the women who suffer sexual abuse are in a vulnerable situation. On the day a woman consumes alcohol, the chances of sexual assault increase 3 to 9 times, according to a study of the University of Buffalo.
What kind of man do women like?
These researchers found that women are attracted to confident, handsome, and intelligent men, which draws them substantially away from the profile of the sexual predator that makes of his target a victim.
Another study conducted at the University of Science and Technology of Huazhong revealed that women find more attractive positive traits such as honesty and kindness. Interestingly, another research conducted at the University of Portsmouth revealed that men are twice as likely as women to be labeled “good at lying and getting away with it”, qualities that women do not find attractive and that widens the gender gap in seduction.
On the contrary, women prefer men who have sense of humor, as psychologists from Indiana University East found. And they also like men who are proud of themselves, according to research from the University of British Columbia.
Sources:
Adair, L., Andersen, B., & Hinton, T. (2020). He looks “easy” and she’s not into it: Sexual exploitation cues and attraction. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences; 14(1): 19–31.
Brianna, L. et. Al. (2019) Prevalencia de mentiras, características de mentiras y estrategias de buenos mentirosos autoinformados. PLOS ONE; 14 (12): e0225566.
Zhang, Y. et. Al. (2014) Personality manipulations: Do they modulate facial attractiveness ratings? Personality and Individual Differences; 70: 80-84.
Tracy, J. L., & Beall, A. T. (2011) Happy guys finish last: The impact of emotion expressions on sexual attraction. Emotion; 11(6): 1379–1387.
Lundy, D. E. et. Al. (2005) Heterosexual romantic preferences: The importance of humor and physical attractiveness for different types of relationships. Personal Relationships; 5(3): 311-325.
Parks, K. A. & Fals-Stewart, W. (2004) The temporal relationship between college women’s alcohol consumption and victimization experiences. Alcohol Clin Exp Res; 28(4): 625-629.
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