Traditionally, men are expected to seduce women, while women are expected to be demure and picky. Thus, women “play hard to get,??? while men “sow their wild oats.??? However, a new study suggests that this disparity in mating standards is more tenuous than you might expect. Several hundred college students participated in a speed-dating experiment. In some sessions, the men were the ones who moved from table to table, and in other sessions the women moved. In the former, the men reported significantly higher levels of interest than the women. In the latter, the women reported as much or more interest than the men. It seems that the act of approaching someone else gives people more confidence and warmth than being approached. In other words, a seemingly trivial change in dating protocol undermines centuries of tradition.
