The Biggest Myths About Dating (debunked) - Psychology Roundtable
In a Nutshell
Women prefer natural beauty signals over artificial enhancement because it indicates good genes rather than vanity, and the "Chad myth" is largely an online dating illusion—most people have one or zero sexual partners annually, with promiscuity concentrated in small high-sociosexuality groups of both sexes. Monogamous marriage historically functioned as sexual redistribution for average men, but dating apps have shifted this toward "sexual capitalism" favoring top attractiveness. Women's desire declines faster in relationships due to mate retention strategies that secure commitment then reduce frequency, while men maintain stronger drives across contexts due to lower reproductive costs.
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A study at Northre University used motion capture technology on 30 male dancers, converting their movements into computer avatars. Women found the most attractive dancers were those who moved their head, neck, and torso the most while mixing up their moves creatively and showing more variation in rhythm. The best dancers used their whole body naturally instead of quickly repeating the same arm and leg movements.
The dance identified as most attractive was noted to be quite feminine. This mirrors facial attractiveness research where initial assumptions favor maximum masculinity, but in some areas with some traits, femininity is favored. A masculine dance might resemble throwing yourself around in a mosh pit or shadow boxing.
British guys are described as doing two things that give women the ick more than anything else: shadow boxing on the way to a night out, and football chants in the queue of a nightclub. Shadow boxing is seen as posturing how hard someone is - showing how formidable and aggressive they would be if they weren't fighting air. There is no opponent, and shadow boxers appear to be losing their shadow boxing fight.
Clavicular, the looksmaxing influencer, became popular through propagating the idea of looksmaxing, bone smashing, and optimizing. He told the New York Times that he is now sterile because he's injected himself with so many chemicals. The argument is that most of the attention clavicular receives from women is due to the fame he got through promoting looksmaxing, not the actual physical changes. For an ordinary man doing all the same looksmaxing protocols without the fame, women would find that kind of guy very vain and self-centered.
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