Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
12-2020
Abstract
Objective: We investigated whether men's social confidence in an initial, opposite-sex chatting context can be improved through a video tutorial and the extent to which being perceived as socially confident results in being seen as more romantically desirable and worthy of future contact. Method: Women chatted with men who had received or not received a tutorial on how to handle speed-dating chats (Study 1: N = 129; Study 2: N = 60) or with male targets selected for having high versus moderate confidence in handling initial, opposite-sex encounters (Study 3: N = 46). Results: Tutorial-trained men felt more confident going into the chats and they, as well as male targets selected for their confidence, were perceived by female chat partners to be higher in social confidence, status, and dominance. However, only perceptions of social confidence were further associated with being perceived as more romantically desirable (as a short-term mate) and worthy of future contact. Conclusions: Findings indicate that social confidence is trainable and that other-perceived social confidence can impact the outcomes of social interactions.
Keywords
attraction, evolutionary psychology, mate selection, short-term mating, social confidence
Discipline
Applied Behavior Analysis | Social Psychology
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Journal of Personality
Volume
88
Issue
6
First Page
1235
Last Page
1251
ISSN
0022-3506
Identifier
10.1111/jopy.12568
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
LI, Norman P., YONG, Jose C., TSAI, Ming-hong, LAI, Mark H. C., LIM, Amy J. Y., & ACKERMAN, Joshua M..(2020). Confidence is sexy and it can be trained: Examining male social confidence in initial, opposite-sex interactions. Journal of Personality, 88(6), 1235-1251.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3228
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12568