A very interesting result. Here’s my initial thoughts on how this might have resulted.
It’s already clear that in terms of reproductive strategies women have more to gain from increased selectivity than men. Not that men are not selective at all, but men can father children by both more and less desirable women simultaneously, whereas women can only have a single child in any 10-month period, so naturally we should expect women to be more selective.
The question then is, what is going on in the brain that causes women to become less selective when they approach men rather than vice verse. My take is this: When women approach men, it suggests that there are so few men interested in mating that a woman must actively seek out a mate. Given this lack of interest, she must be willing to accept lower quality mates, since a low quality mate is better than no mate in terms of propagating genes. Similarly, if men are being approached by women, then the woman must have some property that makes her insufficiently desirable to most men, and so a man in this situation must similarly consider if she is really worth fathering a child to, since it may have social or other consequences that will ultimately hurt him.
The speed dating result, then, ends up with seemingly abnormal results because it’s an abnormal situation forced onto the participants, activating behaviors that are normally reserved for a rare situation in which a woman has to proposition a man for mating purposes.
Even if I’m wrong about all the details above, reversed speed dating is still an abnormal situation that has no clear analogue in the ancestral environment, so we should expect to see that the result is explained by finding something in human psychology that is activated by reversed speed dating but evolved as a result of another situation or environment.
Umm, why do we think the psychological effect of the abnormal situation is rooted in EVOLUTIONARY psychology? It could be quite simply that the women get a sort of high/thrill/adrenaline rush from being in the unusual situation of more physical and psychological activity (the anticipation as you approach someone), whereas sitting in the same chair for a long time as person after person comes by is going to dampen anyone’s spirits and make them a bit more grouchy when it comes to evaluating others.
To me your evolutionary explanation seems like it might be a bit too specific. Is there any reason to think natural selection has resulted in a distinct “hardwired” pattern of reactions for this situation? Or even that women are less likely, culture aside, to proposition a man when they’re attracted to him than men are to proposition women? Especially since the female has more incentive to be choosy, it seems like she would benefit from making sure she “catches” one of the relatively few men who meet her standards, whereas since more women would meet his standards, if you’re assuming anything but unlimited polygyny, I could definitely explain why natural selection would result in an advantage for “forward” women.
That’s a good point and evidence that I wasn’t considering. I think you’re right that some of my explanation gets the details wrong given what you’ve reminded me of here.
A very interesting result. Here’s my initial thoughts on how this might have resulted.
It’s already clear that in terms of reproductive strategies women have more to gain from increased selectivity than men. Not that men are not selective at all, but men can father children by both more and less desirable women simultaneously, whereas women can only have a single child in any 10-month period, so naturally we should expect women to be more selective.
The question then is, what is going on in the brain that causes women to become less selective when they approach men rather than vice verse. My take is this: When women approach men, it suggests that there are so few men interested in mating that a woman must actively seek out a mate. Given this lack of interest, she must be willing to accept lower quality mates, since a low quality mate is better than no mate in terms of propagating genes. Similarly, if men are being approached by women, then the woman must have some property that makes her insufficiently desirable to most men, and so a man in this situation must similarly consider if she is really worth fathering a child to, since it may have social or other consequences that will ultimately hurt him.
The speed dating result, then, ends up with seemingly abnormal results because it’s an abnormal situation forced onto the participants, activating behaviors that are normally reserved for a rare situation in which a woman has to proposition a man for mating purposes.
Even if I’m wrong about all the details above, reversed speed dating is still an abnormal situation that has no clear analogue in the ancestral environment, so we should expect to see that the result is explained by finding something in human psychology that is activated by reversed speed dating but evolved as a result of another situation or environment.
Umm, why do we think the psychological effect of the abnormal situation is rooted in EVOLUTIONARY psychology? It could be quite simply that the women get a sort of high/thrill/adrenaline rush from being in the unusual situation of more physical and psychological activity (the anticipation as you approach someone), whereas sitting in the same chair for a long time as person after person comes by is going to dampen anyone’s spirits and make them a bit more grouchy when it comes to evaluating others.
To me your evolutionary explanation seems like it might be a bit too specific. Is there any reason to think natural selection has resulted in a distinct “hardwired” pattern of reactions for this situation? Or even that women are less likely, culture aside, to proposition a man when they’re attracted to him than men are to proposition women? Especially since the female has more incentive to be choosy, it seems like she would benefit from making sure she “catches” one of the relatively few men who meet her standards, whereas since more women would meet his standards, if you’re assuming anything but unlimited polygyny, I could definitely explain why natural selection would result in an advantage for “forward” women.
That’s a good point and evidence that I wasn’t considering. I think you’re right that some of my explanation gets the details wrong given what you’ve reminded me of here.
I would say this boils down to who is approaching who. The person doing the approach communicates slightly lower value. Examples:
Men approaching the most attractive women in the room.
Women lingering inconspicuously near the most attractive men.