Women like man's touch, but there's catch
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November 12, 2004
BY LUCIO GUERRERO Staff Reporter [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/font]
Before a guy moves in on a woman at a bar, he may want to give his buddy a little hug.
A new study on the nonverbal communication of men in bars -- and what women are receptive to -- finds that the ladies seem to like guys who are, among other things, physically demonstrative toward other men.
Things like a pat on the back or a high five really get a woman's attention. But be careful, make sure you are the toucher and not the touchee.
"'Touchers' are perceived as having more status and more social power than do those being touched, or those not touching at all," the researchers wrote in the latest edition of the Evolution and Human Behaviour journal. "Because high social power is a trait that females have been under evolutionary pressure to value in a mate, we predict that, in a non-reciprocal male-to-male touching interaction the male doing the touching will be more successful with females than will the male who is being touched."
Prof staked out bar
The lead researcher, Lee Ann Renninger, said she became interested in the nonverbal rituals in bars while having a drink with a male friend at a bar and seeing his body position change every time someone new walked in. Renninger, a professor of psychology at New York's Metropolitan College, and her researchers staked out a Pennsylvania bar for hours and logged what they saw.
The researchers also found that women were receptive to men who demanded the most social space -- that is, the amount of room they take up in a bar.
She said when men are only with other men, they hold their drinks close by, creating little private space. But when a woman enters, they immediately set their drinks far apart to let the woman know that they have lots of space in their domain.
"These are things that are in our stomachs, part of who we are," Renninger said.
Other things that seem to work for men include long glances toward women and moving around the bar.
"If I am interested in a guy at a bar, I will definitely notice what he is doing," said Shannan Swenson, 26, of Chicago. "I am attracted to a guy who is having fun, but not being rowdy. I will first try to see if he notices me. I will see if I can catch his eye, and if I do once, I will make sure he looks at me a couple more times."
But Swenson offers this advice to the guys -- regardless of whether they pat their pals or stare longingly at her: "Make the first move, but wait for the right moment to approach the girl," she said. "I can't tell you how many times I've flirted from a distance in a bar, and the guy never comes up to me or makes a move. It's so disappointing."
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[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
November 12, 2004
BY LUCIO GUERRERO Staff Reporter [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/font]
Before a guy moves in on a woman at a bar, he may want to give his buddy a little hug.
A new study on the nonverbal communication of men in bars -- and what women are receptive to -- finds that the ladies seem to like guys who are, among other things, physically demonstrative toward other men.
Things like a pat on the back or a high five really get a woman's attention. But be careful, make sure you are the toucher and not the touchee.
"'Touchers' are perceived as having more status and more social power than do those being touched, or those not touching at all," the researchers wrote in the latest edition of the Evolution and Human Behaviour journal. "Because high social power is a trait that females have been under evolutionary pressure to value in a mate, we predict that, in a non-reciprocal male-to-male touching interaction the male doing the touching will be more successful with females than will the male who is being touched."
Prof staked out bar
The lead researcher, Lee Ann Renninger, said she became interested in the nonverbal rituals in bars while having a drink with a male friend at a bar and seeing his body position change every time someone new walked in. Renninger, a professor of psychology at New York's Metropolitan College, and her researchers staked out a Pennsylvania bar for hours and logged what they saw.
The researchers also found that women were receptive to men who demanded the most social space -- that is, the amount of room they take up in a bar.
She said when men are only with other men, they hold their drinks close by, creating little private space. But when a woman enters, they immediately set their drinks far apart to let the woman know that they have lots of space in their domain.
"These are things that are in our stomachs, part of who we are," Renninger said.
Other things that seem to work for men include long glances toward women and moving around the bar.
"If I am interested in a guy at a bar, I will definitely notice what he is doing," said Shannan Swenson, 26, of Chicago. "I am attracted to a guy who is having fun, but not being rowdy. I will first try to see if he notices me. I will see if I can catch his eye, and if I do once, I will make sure he looks at me a couple more times."
But Swenson offers this advice to the guys -- regardless of whether they pat their pals or stare longingly at her: "Make the first move, but wait for the right moment to approach the girl," she said. "I can't tell you how many times I've flirted from a distance in a bar, and the guy never comes up to me or makes a move. It's so disappointing."
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