avatarPeter W

Summary

The article discusses the psychological effect of "pre-selection" and social proof, explaining how being in a relationship or seen with an attractive partner can increase one's perceived attractiveness to others.

Abstract

The author shares personal experiences and insights into how being in a relationship can inadvertently make someone more desirable to others, a phenomenon he attributes to the concept of "pre-selection." This effect is rooted in the psychological principle of social proof, where individuals look to the actions of others to determine their own behavior in ambiguous social situations. The article cites studies that support the idea that people, especially women, are more attracted to individuals who are already chosen by someone else, suggesting that this attraction is a subconscious response to social cues. The author also provides practical advice for single men on how to leverage this effect by spending time with female friends or featuring pictures with attractive women on social media to enhance their own attractiveness.

Opinions

  • The author believes that being in a relationship can increase one's attractiveness to others due to the effect of "pre-selection."
  • He suggests that the attraction to someone who is already taken is a form of social proof, where the choice of one person influences the perceptions of others.
  • The article implies that this effect is not just a personal observation but is supported by scientific research.
  • It is the author's opinion that men can use the pre-selection effect to their advantage in dating by associating with attractive women, even if they are just friends.
  • The author encourages readers to subscribe to his articles and consider writing on Medium as a way to share knowledge and potentially earn money.

Make Women Obsessed With You Using This Psychological Effect

This effect is truly mindblowing

Photo by Bailey Burton on Unsplash

As a teenager, I had little success with girls. The main reason was probably that I was very shy. But after I worked on my body and became more confident as a result, this changed and I got together with my first girlfriend.

When I was with her something magical seemed to happen. Suddenly other girls were also more interested in me. Especially when they saw me together with my girlfriend.

“Why now? I already have a girlfriend.”

This was what I thought to myself.

Today I think I know why and I would like to share with you how you can use this effect in your favor.

We Want What Others Want

A phenomenon that I observed again and again, especially in school, was that girls asked their girlfriends how attractive they found a boy. I heard questions like “Mike texted me yesterday. Do you think he is pretty?” on a regular basis.

As if these girls had no opinion of their own and had to ask their friends for permission to find a boy attractive.

Admittedly, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Nevertheless, there is an effect that has been proven by studies and seems to work in this way.

I think this can be seen as a kind of social proof. Probably the phenomenon related to sexual attraction does not 100% fit the definition of social proof. Nevertheless, I think it can be compared and the same human tendencies are responsible.

Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to undertake behavior in a given situation. The term was coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book Influence: Science and Practice, and the concept is also known as informational social influence.

Social proof is considered prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that the surrounding people possess more knowledge about the current situation.

The effects of social influence can be seen in the tendency of large groups to conform. This is referred to in some publications as the herd behavior. Although social proof reflects a rational motive to take into account the information possessed by others, formal analysis shows that it can cause people to converge too quickly upon a single distinct choice, so that decisions of even larger groups of individuals may be grounded in very little information (see information cascades). — source: Wikipedia

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Pre-Selection

Back to my personal experience.

I think what suddenly made me more attractive was actually the fact that I had a girlfriend that many other girls thought was pretty. The fact that I was selected by her probably increased my “market value” in the eyes of the others. They probably subconsciously thought to themselves that there must be something about me if this pretty girl picked me, which in turn made me more attractive to the others. When other girls talked about me and said they found me attractive, that in turn gave me social proof.

Pre-selection seems to be powerful. I think that’s how you can explain why so many women are so crazy about celebrities. They know that other women also find their favorite celebrity hot and therefore find him even hotter.

So far this was my completely unscientific thesis. No idea if it is true, but for me it makes sense.

Fortunately, there are studies that support my reasoning.

Photo by Allen Taylor on Unsplash

Desired Men Are Automatically More Attractive

There are actually several studies that support my observations. I would like to present two of them in this article.

One study proved that having an attractive partner makes us more attractive. The results of the study state:

We found that both men and women expressed more interest in engaging in a relationship with a potential mate if that mate was paired with an attractive partner. Men and women’s attention to partners varied with partner attractiveness and this gaze attraction influenced their subsequent mate choices. These results highlight the prevalence of non-independent mate choice in humans and implicate social attention and reward circuitry in these decisions.

The second study looked at how attractive women rated men depending on how attractive the man was rated by other women.

Women appear to copy other women’s preferences for men’s faces. This ‘mate-choice copying’ is often taken as evidence of psychological adaptations for processing social information related to mate choice, for which facial information is assumed to be particularly salient.

How Can You As A Man Use This Effect For Your Own Advantage?

You probably only want to use this effect for yourself if you don’t have a girlfriend yet.

Therefore, you might go out with a female friend for example. This can also cause the mentioned effect

Also, pictures with pretty girls on social media or in your dating profiles could provide social proof and make you more attractive. Even if the pictured woman is just a friend.

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