By Sigurd Neubauer
08/10/2022
Whether you’re in the game of romance or fondly remember the art of courting a beautiful woman during yesteryears, a new study is shedding some light on flirtation tactics, and how they fit into evolutionary biology. The study, which is titled, “Perceived Effectiveness of Flirtation Tactics: The Effects of sex, Mating Context and Individual,” was conducted in both the United States and Norway.
Its findings, interestingly, suggest that not that much has changed in terms of what attracts men to women and vice versa. The study also breaks up flirtation techniques, and what’s effective, and what’s not into two main categories: what you need to know, and do, if you’re pursuing a one-night stand, versus what is required to select a partner for the long term.
The study’s co-author, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, a professor of psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, explains in an interview that the only aspect in it that surprised him was the role humor plays in the in the game of flirtation.
“The fact that both men and women benefit from each other’s humor surprised us,” Kennair says. “While men produce more humor in general and women consume more of it, a man pursuing a woman will be more successful if he laughs at her jokes, and find them funny,” he adds in reference to the study’s findings.
When it comes to the changing role of culture in society, not much has changed in respect to what it takes to find success in flirtation.
Smile and eye contact are basic necessities for flirtation, for both men and women, the study finds.
When it comes how one dresses, the study finds that dressing better – or sexier – is more efficient for women in the short term. For men, it is not very efficient for the short term. See table below.
Flirtation tactic Effectiveness Judgment for Testing Hypothesis 1 (Marginal Means are Controlled for Nation)
| Mating context | |||
| Short term | Long term | ||
Tactics | MM | 95% CI | MM | 95% CI |
| ||||
Display body and dress sexy (3 items, a = .65) | ||||
Men | 4.92 | [4.78–5.06] | 4.46 | [4.32–4.59] |
Women | 5.42 | [5.28–5.55] | 4.50 | [4.37–4.64] |
Friendly contact (4 items, a = .72) | ||||
Men | 4.54 | [4.40–4.68] | 5.11 | [4.98–5.25] |
Women | 4.25 | [4.11–4.38] | 5.03 | [4.89–5.17] |
Initial phase physical contact (4 items, a = .77) | ||||
Men | 5.37 | [5.28–5.50] | 5.09 | [4.96–5.22] |
Women | 5.55 | [5.42–5.68] | 5.06 | [4.93–5.18] |
Sexualized physical contact (4 items, a = .73) | ||||
Men | 5.00 | [4.87–5.13] | 4.86 | [4.84–4.99] |
Women | 5.80 | [5.67–5.92] | 5.28 | [5.15–5.41] |
Note. Men and women are the sex of the actor. Scale scores ranged from 1 (not very effective), through 4 (moderately effective) to 7 (very effective). MM = Marginal Means, CI = Confidence interval | ||||
If you are a woman who wants a one night stand, be explicit about it
The study also finds: “If you are a woman who wants a one-night stand, be explicit about it. If you are a man who wants it, you have to work a bit harder,” Kennair says.
“Hugs and kisses are not as appealing because that’s what friends and colleagues do. Friendly contact, however, is more efficient for flirtation,” he adds.
Cultural differences
Another noteworthy aspect of the study, which did not surprise Kennair, but will perhaps surprise Americans – and especially those who consider themselves liberal – was that it revealed that Americans are more conservatives than Norwegians when it comes to the pursuit of romance, including sexual behavior.
“When we use a measure of socially liberals, Americans come out as more socially conservative than Norwegians,” the professor asserts.“Norway is more sexually liberal and gender egalitarian while America is more religious than the Scandinavian country,” he adds.
To make his point, Kennair says, “what just happened in America could never have happened in Norway.” The professor refers to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling enshrining abortion rights into the U.S. Constitution.
He asserts that this is yet another example of why Americans are more religious than Norwegians even as I push back by pointing out that the country is divided, among many other issues, over the role of religion in society.
Comparing the two countries, which surveyed student populations about flirtation and sexuality, Kennair says, “Americans are more religious and less sexually liberal. American culture is steeped in religiosity, which is totally lacking in Norway.”
Norway is also ahead of America on gender equality, he explains, which he called “remarkable.”
Americans are more socially conservative than Norwegians
Here’s the premise of the study:
“The aim of the current study is to consider the perceived effectiveness of different flirtation tactics employed by heterosexual men and women from two different cultures in short-term and long-term contexts using a two-by-two (sex by mating context) factorial design, testing and conceptually reproducing hypotheses developed from an SST [Sexual Strategies Theory] perspective,” it says.
On why he chose to publish a study on the art of flirtation, Kennair says that he met T. Joel Wade, a professor at Bucknell University, a few years ago at a conference where they decided to pursue it. There is, however, a “darker side” to this study, Kennair explains, as he has been researching the topic of sexual harassment since 2005.
Even though his research on sexual harassment predates what became known as the #Metoo movement by 10 years, Kennair explains that as far as flirtation tactics – as outlined in his recent study – not much has changed.
“We don’t believe that there have been many changes in behavior over the millennia. The aspects are so stable – with the relative ease that these tactics that are used,” the professor says. “We used the basic findings to use the positive aspects and efficiency.”
In 2015, Kennair published a paper on self-promotion. Its premise is based on a social situation where one is trying to put his best foot forward. The flirtation behavior, Kennair says, “is pretty stable before and after the #Metoo movement.”
Generosity
The topic of generosity, as laid out at the table below, finds that in the investment in a partner, men are expected to be more generous than women. “Men will say I love you earlier in the relationship,” Kennair explains as signaling commitment is more efficient for men. This is also true in the pursuit of a short-term relationship—where signaling a commitment – will be more efficient as well,” he adds.
Flirtation tactic Effectiveness Judgment for Testing Hypothesis 2, 3, and 4 (Marginal Means are Controlled for Nation)
| Mating context | |||
| Short term | Long term | ||
Tactics | MM | 95% CI | MM | 95% CI |
| ||||
Generosity (4 items, a = .79) | ||||
Men | 4.26 | [4.11–4.42] | 4.84 | [4.68–4.99] |
Women | 3.27 | [3.12–3.43] | 4.19 | [4.03–4.34] |
Commitment/Intimate conversation (4 items, a = .79) | ||||
Men | 4.63 | [4.49–4.77] | 6.04 | [5.90–6.17] |
Women | 3.97 | [3.83–4.10] | 5.81 | [5.67–5.95] |
Spending time (4 items, a = .75) | ||||
Men | 4.65 | [4.52–4.78] | 5.36 | [5.24–5.49] |
Women | 4.19 | [4.06–4.31] | 5.38 | [5.25–5.50] |
Note. Men and women are the sex of the actor. Scale scores ranged from 1 (not very effective), through 4 (moderately effective) to 7 (very effective). MM = Marginal Means, CI = Confidence interval | ||||
Americans are more religious and less sexually liberal. American culture is steeped in religiosity, which is totally lacking in Norway, - Kennair
