Science Brief: Women Are Wooed By Men Who Use Metaphors

in #science7 years ago (edited)

Just over a week ago I tried my hand at an exceedingly short, no-background, no nonsense science post about a current topic in the literature. This post was met with positive reviews, so today I have returned to follow this protocol yet again and hopefully produce for you something that is both interesting (or at least a bit silly as today's article might be) and not a big time investment!

For this post let us turn to a topic that is completely outside my wheel house... metaphorical language and romance (neither or which biochemists are known for!) and discuss an article published in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports titled "Women prefer men who use metaphorical language when paying compliments in a romantic context"


"Your eyes are ocean waves rearranging the beach that is my heart"


What Were The Authors Studying?

Metaphorical language and romance. Metaphorical meaning implying something different then what you are saying. This was one weird ass study where the authors:

investigated 124 female students’ preference for compliments paid by males incorporating either literal or metaphoric (conventional/novel) language and targeting their appearance or possessions (house) throughout their menstrual cycle.

Certainly not what I usually find my self reading about after work! Hmm yes... whats this article... complements... hmm... menstrual cycle?... that's weird... okay I guess I will read it!

Basically the authors paired up pictures of guys with written statements then asked the women rate the attractiveness of the guys. The girls were told that the statements were written down by the person pictured and as was quoted above the guys either "talked" more about the girls appearance, or stuff they had, and then used varying degrees of language going from very literal to very metaphorical. The results they found may or may not surprise you (they actually surprised me!!)

Gals love the metaphors, prefer complements about themselves rather than their houses (duh)

The guys who talked about the girls appearances were statistically reported as more attractive then were guys who talked about possessions that the girls had (maybe not surprising, who doesn't prefer a complement directly at you, as opposed to someone complimenting your house). The bar graph above shows this where the *** indicates that the difference between those two topics of discussion was statistically significant (p <0.001). Secondly we can see that talking literally was much less attractive then even whipping out some cliche conventional metaphors. Here we see ** which means P > 0.01. Still pretty good.

Are You Wondering What A Conventional Metaphor Is In The Eyes Of These Scientists?

Metaphors about the girls appearance:

Your eyes are morning dew or Your smile is a naughty goblin is from the category of conventional metaphors on appearance.

Holy shit, the ladies were into guys telling them their smile is a naughty goblin?

Metaphors about possessions:

Your roof is a lover’s shoulder or Your garden is the sea of flowers belongs to the category of novel metaphors on possessions

Well I think I have some Idea why the girls preferred the personal metaphors more... who wants to hear about their roof? Ohh baby... tell me more about how my roof's shingles keep your heart safe.. so dreamy.

It Gets Better... what about the "literal" statements

Your lips are so sexy or Your door is very strong are literal expressions.

Now I am pretty sure I know why the literal statements didn't do so well... I don't think too many people recommend the pickup line " Your door is very strong."


"I just had to come over to introduce my self and tell you how strong your door is"

Some Conclusions From The Article

  • Women prefer complements about themselves, over their possessions, and perceive men delivering those complements as more attractive.
  • Men who use metaphors are more attractive then men who do not.
  • Women IN relationships are more responsive to metaphorical language then single women.
  • Women more likely to get pregnant (due to menstrual cycle progression) who are IN relationships find men complementing their appearence more attractive then those complementing possessions, this trend is less significant for those IN relationships and less likely to get pregnant.
  • Single women LESS likely to get pregnant find men complementing their appearence more attractive then those complementing possessions. This trend was NOT there for single women who were more likely to get pregnant.
  • The authors state that the use of metaphorical language (especially metaphors that the women are not familiar with) is an illustration of creativity, which is a desirable trait in a potential mate.

Are You A Single Guy? What Should You Take From This?

  1. Looks like it's time to investigate what metaphors are, will make people perceive you as more attractive!
  2. Try not to go out and hit on girls by complementing the strength of the doors of their houses/apartments.


That is one strong door


Sources

  1. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep40871

All Non Cited Images Are From Pixabay.com And Are Available Under Creative Commons Licenses

Any Gifs Are From Giphy.com and Are Also Available for Use Under Creative Commons Licences


As was the case with the previous brief post, I don't expect this article to make the splash that perhaps one of my more expansive weekend posts would. That said, I again will be distributing all SBD rewards in the form of Steem Power out equally to anyone who comments in this article (commenting more than once will not gain you more, it will be calculated per user, the fewer user comments the bigger your potential prize... the more comments, smaller your prize, everyone who comments will get something). This served as a nice way for me to reward my followers for their kindness and support, encourage discussion, and also help distribute steem power to newer and smaller users. It was a Win, Win, Win really... so let's do it again!

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I figured out this "power of metaphor" as a young pup. Yep, a lot of hotdog and bun references when I was a kid.

like a lovin machine!

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Metaphors get strait to the point,
Whereas Similes are very slow in their meaning.

This scientific study proves that "Nice guys finish last".
It's better to get straight to the point, that's why women love Metaphors.

Try this again with MY account:

They are certainly better than talking about women's doors thats for sure!

Thank you for your comment! :D

If anyone asks, "What's a metaphor?", I tell them, "To feed my cows". Not surprisingly, in my experiences, women are not turned on by puns. lol

Hmm, according to this article women are turned on by telling them their smile is a naughty goblin. Perhaps its in your delivery? lol

some women...love puns! I've definitely had romantic explosions with gals who love a good pun!

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Thank you very much! I appreciate you helping out us minnows. I look forward to your next event.

You're welcome. It's not worth writing posts if nobody wants to read them, I want to help lift us all up, through efforts like that steemit will become a massive success IMO.

Yeah I will not be single anymore lol. Anyways great post, easy to read. Inspires me

:) As always, thank you for your complement and your support. I wholeheartedly appreciate it.

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nice...you deserve upvote and resteem...

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happy to hear that....keep it up....thanks...will join in again...

Hmmm, that is pretty wild. I don't suppose there's any good way to test for this, but you know, not all metaphors are created equally. Perhaps another encompassing hypothesis could be women find men who speak beautifully more attractive.

not all metaphors are created equally

This is a good point. And by no means was this study discussed here exhaustive. Certainly someone could look much more deeply into these observations :)

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neuro linguistic programming is the art of 'therapeutic metaphor' which is used to reconfigure synaptic connections in the brain aka 'change mental patterns'. there are several 'authors' who have attempted to use NLP for 'pickups' - they claim to have good results, but i will point out that purely mental manipulation is only a shallow way to change behavior and has little to do with the loving bonding that real relationships require.

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you are welcome - great! i didn't expect that :)

Indeed

purely mental manipulation is only a shallow way to change behavior and has little to do with the loving bonding that real relationships require

Yep, very true. Thanks for reading!

I can tell you from my own experience and testing, that in a highly competitive environment such as an online video chat room with semi naked women, it is the other way around. When the woman is hearing compliments about her appearance non-stop, and you compliment her necklace instead of her ass, you will get noticed and appreciated instantly. It's a night and day distinction that I have found in that environment. Even outside of that environment, unless I was being very direct towards a woman, I would not comment on her appearance directly. I am not sure why any man would want to show his hand and give her that sort of power over him in the first place.

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I hope to do this again in the near future.

Thanks! Wasn't expecting that, but it's appreciated.

You're very welcome.

I can tell you from my own experience and testing, that in a highly competitive environment such as an online video chat room with semi naked women, it is the other way around. When the woman is hearing compliments about her appearance non-stop, and you compliment her necklace instead of her ass, you will get noticed and appreciated instantly.

Interesting point. Thanks.

Your eyes are radiant pools I could swim in for eternity.

Great post....my wife always says that my cheesy lines really made her fall in love with me.

Now there's a cheesy metaphor! :D you've a gift!

your voice is a symphony that wakes my very soul, and your heart is a drum that drives the rhythm of my life. I could hold you in my arms for eternity, and that would still not be long enough.

I was so good back in the day! hahaha! Thanks for the post my friend. This was some great research.

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Thank you very much!

Sure thing, you're welcome.

Wow, this is great news for me, I live in metaphor!
Your post is a rip in the time space continuum, racing like an antilope to the end of the universe! Strong door!

Definitely strong door. Definitely.

Lol.

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Compliments are welcome for both genders. I’ve got a feeling men much less are pleased with getting them. I’d say as a teacher I’m a thick skin hearing – the reality rules!
Among my friends there are some actresses they adore metaphor complements especially about their acting, perhaps the same way to get flowers after performance.

Yeah I suspect it swings both ways, they just didn't look at men in this article. :)

Thanks for your comment!

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Ever looked at medieval oriental texts about woman?
You can't see their strong doors for all the metaphors!

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I have always ignored the reading of such articles... Too far from my expertise. It looks however funny and weird to read. I may give it a try in my free times (which are non existent :p).

Are You A Single Guy? What Should You Take From This?

Talking about goblins. That helps... :D

There is a lot of data in the primary article, and it's not presented in a humorous way. I just found it funny once I looked at the method section to see examples of what the complements were. So I wrote this post focusing more on that, rather than the data as much.

I don't remember having seen any joke if any scientific article I have read. The opposite would have been surprizing (I personally keep my jokes for the conferences :p)

@lemouth for you I deviated from the rules of the post and provided you the prize from this post as liquid steem. If you do not wish to keep it for your self, please send it to any poster you deem worthy of a bonus.

Ooh you make it complicated for me :)

I will find someone. It will be a #science post and I will let you know which one in due time.

Sounds good :D

This is one amazing post my friend, I sure have learn't from this how to sway more ladies off their feet, this would definitely help most men here....thanks for sharing :)

Thank you for your comment.

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I again will be distributing all SBD rewards in the form of Steem Power out equally to anyone who comments in this article

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Thanks friend for the generosity, it's really amazing seeing people like you do so much to give back to the community..keep up the good work friend.
Appreciate!

You're welcome. Thanks, I will continue to try my best to help. :)

Interesting posting.
I will do as you wright

Get out those metaphors man :)

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Interesting. Maybe it's an IQ test of sorts. Apples, oranges...nope, that doesn't work for me, you're out.

Too many accounts! I don't think metaphorical acuity is an indicator of your IQ :)

Your mind is a sponge absorbing knowledge of metaphors from this post. #meta-metaphor

I provided you the bonus stated in the text of this post in the form of liquid steem rather than steem power ( I assume you have no interest in keeping it :D ) please pass it along to one of the great new steemians which you are mentoring. Thanks!

Whoa, what? I won something? Think you. Will pay it forward doubly.

nice lol. I should start using more metaphors more often

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I again will be distributing all SBD rewards in the form of Steem Power out equally to anyone who comments in this article

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@justtryme90 thank you for the SP :) It was a nice surprise. Cheers

You're welcome. Cheers.

More metaphors, and less conversations about peoples houses is what I've gathered for my self.

I am already married but i can use the tips here . Thanks for sharing

Thanks for commenting :)

In this study, women IN a relationship showed an even greater appreciation for metaphors. Your wife/husband will find you extra attractive then.

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Great post @justtryme90!

"Your eyes are ocean waves rearranging the beach that is my heart"
This had me crying laughing...following!

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WOW, I must have missed that part because I was laughing so hard....you rock @justtryme90! following

Sometimes, its good to be in the right place at the right time :)

well guess I was already following so I must've been in the right place!

Thanks :)

Was going for cheesy. I think I was successful.

Idk man if a girl ever said to me " Your door is very strong." I would take it

Lol, I would wonder how many times they were dropped as a kid.

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Awesome.!!
So interesting..
Thanks for sharing..
Dear friend justtryme90

Thank you for your comment!

You're welcome..^^

Thank you for engaging with me in my post. In the text of the post it was stated:

I again will be distributing all SBD rewards in the form of Steem Power out equally to anyone who comments in this article

This post earned The post earned 219 SBD which was converted on the market into 205.3 Steem/22 total posts = 9.33 Steem Power.

As promised, as is delivered.

I hope to do this again in the near future.

Wow, thank you so much :)

Metaphors are a classy way to express a compliment. I mean just compare a simple compliment like "you´ve got beautiful eyes" and maybe your example from above "Your eyes are ocean waves rearranging the beach that is my heart"... I´m sure the least will impress a woman more as it as well shows a certain intelligence and style.

You don't find my example metaphor to be cheesy? I honestly would cringe if I said that to someone for real :D

Somehow it is :D I just couldn´t come up with another example right away so I took yours to make my point. But hey, even being a cheesy one there´s still the 50/50 chance you´ll make her laugh and in case that happens it´s even better ;)

Thank you for engaging with me in my post. In the text of the post it was stated:

I again will be distributing all SBD rewards in the form of Steem Power out equally to anyone who comments in this article

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As promised, as is delivered.

I hope to do this again in the near future.

Thank you very much @justtryme90 :) You actually just gave me a payout I´m dreaming of since I started on Steemit. It´s really a generous action and it´s more than just appreciated!

You're welcome. :) Glad this small gesture brings happiness.