Chat-up lines as male displays: Effects of content, sex, and personality

Men Who Compliment a Woman's Appearance Using Metaphorical Language: Associations with Creativity, Masculinity, Intelligence and Attractiveness

Language may have evolved as a signal of mental fitness. However, it remains unclear what language form and topic men use to covertly signal mate quality. In this study 69 men created compliments to impress unfamiliar women they chose to either date or work with and provided hand scans to compute 2D4D ratio as a proxy for prenatal testosterone exposure and masculinity indicator. Compliments were coded in terms of form (literal vs. metaphorical) and topic (women's appearance vs. non-appearance), with metaphorical ones being subsequently rated by 114 women for psycholinguistic features, indices of intelligence and willingness to have a romantic relationship with the author. Results showed that in a dating context, men produced more metaphorical form compliments targeting appearance compared to the working context and they were associated with men's art creativity and negatively with 2D4D ratio (i.e., positively with masculinity). Women preferred establishing a romantic relationship with a higher proportion of the men producing metaphorical compliments in a dating than a working context. Furthermore, in the dating but not the working context, women perceived men producing such compliments as being more intelligent, and importantly this correlated with the men's actual verbal intelligence. Overall, findings suggest that men may use metaphorical language compliments targeting women's appearance in a dating context to signal covertly their mate quality.

Does Sociosexuality Affect Use and Desirability of Different Types of Opening Lines Among Young Japanese?

The present study examined the relations between sociosexuality and the desirability and the use of innocuous, direct, and cute-flippant opening lines. A total of 216 women rated the desirability of each type of opening line and answered the revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R). A total of 198 men reported the use of types of opening lines and answered the SOI-R. The desirability of cute-flippant lines, which were the least preferred lines, was positively related to sociosexuality, while the use of cute lines was not associated with sociosexuality. In addition, the use of innocuous and direct lines was positively related to sociosexuality. It may be that unrestricted men use innocuous and direct lines as a strategy to start conversation before flirting.

Women prefer men who use metaphorical language when paying compliments in a romantic context

Language plays an important role in romantic attachment. However, it is unclear whether the structure and topic of language use might influence potential mate choice. We 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. Male faces paired with novel metaphorical compliments were rated as more attractive by women than those paired with literal ones. Compliments targeting appearance increased male attractiveness more than possessions. Interestingly, compliments on appearance using novel metaphors were preferred by women in a relationship during the fertile phase but by single women during the luteal phase. A similar pattern of altered face attraction ratings was subsequently shown by subjects in the absence of the verbal compliments and even though they were unable to recognize the faces. Thus the maintained attraction bias for faces previously associated with figurative language compliments appears to be unconscious. Overall this study provides the first evidence that women find men who typically use novel metaphorical language to compliment appearance more attractive than those using prosaic language or complimenting possessions. The evolutionary significance for such a language use bias in mate selection is discussed.

Neural Correlates of Sex/Gender Differences in Humor Processing for Different Joke Types

Humor operates through a variety of techniques, which first generate surprise and then amusement and laughter once the unexpected incongruity is resolved. As different types of jokes use different techniques, the corresponding humor processes also differ. The present study builds on the framework of the 'tri-component theory of humor,' which details the mechanisms involved in cognition (comprehension), affect (appreciation), and laughter (expression). This study seeks to identify differences among joke types and between sexes/genders in the neural mechanisms underlying humor processing. Three types of verbal jokes, bridging-inference jokes (BJs), exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs), were used as stimuli. The findings revealed differences in brain activity for an interaction between sex/gender and joke type. For BJs, women displayed greater activation in the temporoparietal-mesocortical-motor network than men, demonstrating the importance of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) presumably for 'theory of mind' processing, the orbitofrontal cortex for motivational functions and reward coding, and the supplementary motor area for laughter. Women also showed greater activation than men in the frontal-mesolimbic network associated with EJs, including the anterior (frontopolar) prefrontal cortex (aPFC, BA 10) for executive control processes, and the amygdala and midbrain for reward anticipation and salience processes. Conversely, AJs elicited greater activation in men than women in the frontal-paralimbic network, including the dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC) and parahippocampal gyrus. All joke types elicited greater activation in the aPFC of women than of men, whereas men showed greater activation than women in the dPFC. To confirm the findings related to sex/gender differences, random group analysis and within group variance analysis were also performed. These findings help further establish the mechanisms underlying the processing of different joke types for the sexes/genders and provide a neural foundation for a theory of sex/gender differences in humor.