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Uncertainty Can Increase Romantic Attraction
- NathanKP 16y agoI wonder if this can be applied to a startup, not just romance. The first few things that comes to mind are Apple's "just another day that you will never forget" and Google's Cr48 pilot program. Both have an element of uncertainty. In Apple's case it was the nature of the announcement, and in Google's case it is whether or not you will get one of the pilot laptops. In both case people's attraction seems to have been peaked more than it otherwise would have. So uncertainty can be a powerful tool if used properly. Of course, I'm thinking about applications towards startups because I'm not a really socially adept person, and am therefore not too sure how one could go about deliberately creating uncertainty in a social relationship to attract a female.
- corin_ 16y agoThe Cr48 example is a bad one - would people have been any less excited if Google had said "we are giving everyone a free laptop"?
- amstrad464 16y agoIt would take out the element of scarcity.
- hackinthebochs 16y agoAbsolutely. I signed up for one and I was excited at possibly getting a free laptop. I then told my friend about it and in the process of explaining to her what this laptop was about (why she couldn't install anything on it) I realized I didn't actually want the thing.
- yrral 16y agoWhy has this comment been downvoted? In my mind the parent makes a really interesting point.
- NathanKP 16y agoI am also quite mystified about the downvotes. It would be nice to see an explanation... Edit: The comment score has gone positive again, but I am still interested in who voted my comment down to negative three and why. I'm not complaining, just curious.
- gcheong 16y agoI've come to the conclusion that some people downvote just because they can.
- shrikant 16y agoCertainly. Even yrral's comment asking why his parent post was down-voted, was down-voted to 0!
- RodgerTheGreat 16y agoI can't speak for everyone, but I feel a little knee-jerk at posts that try to relate anything and everything back to startups. Startups are a recurring theme here and some people are very passionate about them, but it really gets old after a while. Sound like a plausible explanation?
- kilian 16y agoWhy do you think so many startups have a private beta? You don't know whether you get in and that makes you want to try it out. Glitch also does this fantastically well with their playtest weekends. They don't tell you in advance when they are, so if you want to participate you need keep an eye on them via twitter or the site itself at all time.
- aneth 16y agoI'm glad the government is contributing to pickup artist literature. Indeed, I think uncertainty is a major part of attraction. It creates insecurity and a desire to settle the uncertainty in ones own favor which manifests itself in attraction.
- mikeknoop 16y agoYour conclusion may be correct but it is not the one provided by the abstract: "Uncertain participants reported thinking about the men the most, and this increased their attraction toward the men."
- aneth 16y agoCan you clarify? This seems to be exactly my point.
- ramchip 16y agoI'm not sure if that was mikeknoops's point, but the study does not support that "[uncertainty] creates insecurity and a desire to settle the uncertainty in ones own favor". They merely say that the participants thought more about the men, heightening the attraction. This may or may not be explained by your theory.
- thesz 16y agoThis is interesting, because it certainly has a deal in attractiveness of public figures: they often on the screen, we talk about them, we think about their actions. So we can increase likeness by being nice and by being worth to think about.
- sp332 16y ago"That's a unique pair of boots."
- eru 16y agoWhat does this mean?
- cptnred 16y agoWonder if this goes in both directions or just for women.
- orblivion 16y agoYeah I'm pretty sure it happens to me.
- natrius 16y agoA participant reportedly commented, "I don't know how much he likes me, but I know exactly where he is." A restraining order was obtained.
- zackattack 16y agothe most attractive thing a woman can say to me is "i find you attractive." but hey, that's just me. a generic male
- zackattack 16y agokidding aside, this is a waste of time and a grand opportunity to mention the LUDIC FALLACY
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- endlessvoid94 16y agoUncertain things are the most interesting. I think that's another possible explanation. People are attracted to other people whom they find interesting.
- l0nwlf 16y agoToo bad that we need to sign-in to checkout the complete text. [Edit: I was planning to check the size of sample data i.e. number of women who participated in the research, but chucked the idea after the bothersome process.]