Playing Hard to Get Will Secure You a Partner
The old saying ‘treat them mean, keep them keen’ has various levels of success with different people but new research says it’s the way forward.
Researchers at the University of Western Sydney and Singapore Management University have found that men and women will use manipulation to test their partner’s love for them.
The researchers tested 58 types of manipulation which women are prone to using in order to test this theory.
These included having women flirting with other men, letting their suitors call go to voicemail and being ‘snooty’.
It was found that women often blow hot and cold to test their partner’s commitment to them.
The researchers also found that the most successful tactics were flirting with others, withholding sex, turning down the first few dates, being confident and teasing.
According to the researchers, women are much more likely to play hard to get and it was suggested that this was because they were testing their potential mate for when they have children.
Phillip Hodson, a fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and author of Men, An Investigation into the Emotional Male, told The Independent, “This study blends traditional thinking with some modern.
“To get her man in the 1950s movie The Pajama Game, professional virgin Doris Day withholds sex until her underlying contractual demands are met.
“But psychologists and therapists would call this strategy outdated on the grounds that she'd most likely attract an incompatible mate who would tire of her once the challenge had vanished.”
The study involved asking 1,500 men and women which tactics they felt worked best when it came to treating them mean.
The full results are available in the European Journal of Personality.
Do you find that treating them mean keeps them keen, or simply drives them away? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or tweeting us @FemaleFirst_UK
Cara Mason @cara_mason