Friday, April 10, 2015

Women, Explained: Part Seven - The Magic of Social Proof, or Why You Need at Least One Hot Female Friend

Part OnePart TwoPart ThreePart FourPart FivePart 6Part 7Part 8Part 9Part 10Part 11

Remember the Seinfled episode where George wore a wedding ring to pick up women?



George was attempting to utilize the idea of social proof. Generally speaking, the psychological concept usually pertains to our tendency to look towards other people to figure out how to behave in new social situations. If we enter a McDonald's in Beijing, most of us will stop, observe for a few moments to determine how we're supposed to act (ordering and what not), then act.

In the realm of gender relations, social proof refers to a mental shortcut women use to assess the sexual market value of a male. In George's case, the ring told the other women "this guy has been pre-selected by at least one other woman. As such, he has at least some value." And remember the hypergamy lesson - women are always seeking the highest value male they can obtain.

A better method to capitalize on this phenomenon is to hang out with hot women. It can dramatically increase your perceived sexual market value because other women will assume the high-value women around you are hanging out with you because you're also a high value man.

It's important to note this phenomenon is not based on jealousy, though it may be based on an element of envy. I'll discuss "triangles of interest" in a later post, though.

Part of what makes social proof such an interesting phenomenon is that men do not consider it when assessing the relative value of a woman. A man may see the other man or men as rivals, but they don't change his rating of her.



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