5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

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Rock
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Rock »

How Dogs Help Men in the Dating Market
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/me ... ing-market

When you take your dog for a walk, do you find yourself chatting with attractive strangers more often than when you walk by yourself? Has your dog ever helped you start a relationship? If so, you're not alone. Research suggests that man's best friend may also be his best wingman.

One of the first studies to document the potential relationship benefits of dog ownership took place in France (Guéguen & Ciccotti, 2008). A 20-year old male research confederate, who was chosen for being physically attractive, was trained to carry out two versions of a study. In both versions, he approached women in a pedestrian-friendly urban area, complimented them, and asked for their phone numbers. For 120 of these interactions, he approached the women alone; for the other 120, he approached the women while he was walking a dog. The confederate was trained to interact in the same way in both versions of the study; the only difference being the presence or absence of the dog.

As a general rule, asking women for their phone numbers without any real interaction preceding such a request doesn't yield a lot of positive responses. That said, the confederate had much more success when he was walking the dog. The percentage of women who agreed to his request jumped from 9.2 percent to 28.3 percent when the dog was present.

That's a substantial difference.

So why do dogs help men in the dating market?

A recent lab experiment in Israel pursued this question (Tifferet, Kruger, Bar-Lev, & Zeller, 2013). Women, it turns out, perceive men who are walking dogs more favorably than they do men who aren't walking dogs. Women see dog-walking men as having more long-term romantic potential (as well as short-term potential) than the same men who aren't walking dogs.

Why is this?

The researchers suggest that when you're walking a dog, people often assume you're the owner of that dog—i.e., that you're able to make the sacrifices necessary to take good care of a dog. If that's so, you might make a fantastic boyfriend or husband. People might infer that a dog-walking man knows how to form lasting attachments, has the resources to care for someone else (dog ownership is expensive!), and is reliable enough to do the daily work involved with dog ownership. In other words, the dog may signal a set of underlying characteristics that are highly desirable in a long-term romantic partner.

This means that dogs could be used as a strategic tool to attract a partner. If walking a dog is suggestive of desirable long-term characteristics, individuals who have a short-term relationship view might be able to shift the perception of themselves to appeal to attractive women who are not interested in short-term affairs. In fact, men with a "dad" vibe didn't benefit from walking a dog, but women judged "cads" (i.e., socially-dominant men who like short-term relationships) as much more attractive partners when they had dogs.

This research sparks some interesting questions: The evidence clearly suggests that dog ownership, or just walking a friend's dog, could improve a single heterosexual man's chances of connecting with a desirable woman.* But would this also apply to gay men? And are women who walk dogs perceived differently than women who do not? Further, does it matter what kind of dog you walk? Does walking a Chihuahua lead to different inferences as compared to walking a German Shepherd?

One last thought: What about other pets? How does the ownership of cats, birds, or even snakes influence perceptions related to romantic attraction? What ideas are formed, for example, from online dating profiles that mention pet ownership?
(click the link above to read the full article and comments.)

Questions:
1. You are walking a dog in a park. You see an attractive man/woman nearby. What would you do or say to make friends with them? Use the dog as a help.
2. Why are women more willing to give away their phone numbers to a dog walker? Is the researchers' suggestion convincing enough to you? Can you think of another explanation?
3. What about other pets? How does the ownership of cats, birds, or even snakes influence perceptions related to romantic attraction? What ideas are formed, for example, from online dating profiles that mention pet ownership?


Session Two
It's me or the dog! Or both of us and a lifetime of sulking

http://ask.metafilter.com/214262/Its-me ... of-sulking

My friend has always been a pet-lover, and grew up with dogs. She got this dog around six years ago, when we shared a house and our neighbours literally dumped their neglected puppy on our doorstep. The agreement we made at the time was that the dog would be hers, since I couldn't afford feed and vet care, and so the dog went with her when she moved away a few years later. I'm still very fond of that dog, though, and it's difficult not to let that cloud my view of her current dog-vs-boyfriend situation.

She met the boyfriend three years ago, and he's very, very much not a dog person. He did not grow up with pets (he did grow up in a pet-owning culture, just not a pet-owning household) and does not see the point of them. While he isn't allergic to dogs or afraid of them, he finds them messy and disgusting and truly hates sharing his space with a dog. He loathes the dog hairs that get everywhere, the care and attention the dog needs from its owner, the general dog-ness of it. He refers to the dog as 'that thing', and his interactions with her are mostly restricted to avoiding/ignoring her or yelling at her when she gets in his way.

Friend and Boyfriend have been living together for the past 18 months or so. At first he was living with her and the dog in her tiny flat; since then they've relocated for her job and they've rented a place together. I get the impression he was dearly hoping they wouldn't be able to find a landlord to rent to them with dog in tow, and she was dearly hoping that he would find it easier to live with the dog in a bigger place, but neither of these things happened. They have been having the same "I don't know if I can live with a dog" discussion over and over again for nearly two years now, and it seems to follow the same pattern - dog does something annoying, Boyfriend declares that he doesn't know if he can live with a dog, Friend refuses to give the dog away, Boyfriend considers things and says that he'll stay, wait three months, rinse and repeat.

Friend is, obviously, upset about all of this and frustrated that the same argument seems to come up again every time she starts feeling more secure in the future of the relationship. Their relationship is otherwise great, and she doesn't want to lose it. She very much doesn't want to give up her dog, she also very much doesn't want to give up the boyfriend. I think if it came down to one or the other, she'd pick the boyfriend over the dog, but I know it would break her heart to do that.

Questions:
1. What animals do you love/hate the most? Why do you love/hate this animal? If you are keeping a pet, what would it be? Why?
2. Is this Boyfriend a jerk? Why or why not?
3. What's your advice to this couple? Is it better that they give up the dog, keep the dog, or leave each other? Are there any creative solutions you can think of (be it crazy or not)?


Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements
************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 4:00 pm 到 ~ 約 6:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
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Rock
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Rock »

圖檔
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Luis Ko
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註冊時間: 週三 6月 06, 2007 10:18 pm

Re: 5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Luis Ko »

1. You are walking a dog in a park. You see an attractive man/woman sitting nearby. What would you do or say to make friends with them? Use the dog as a help.

answer: i don't have a dog in the first place, so i won't walk them, not even in a hundred years i would say, so it will never happen to me. if i see an attractive woman sitting near by, i will just look at her.. ah~ i mean glance at her, time and time again.. it doesn't matter if i have a dog or not haaa~ XDD
最後由 Luis Ko 於 週六 5月 13, 2017 12:33 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 1 次。
i might be a cynic and, a sceptic as well but, i'm definitely not a bad person!!
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Rock
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Rock »

Hey, you are supposed to answer the question, not telling the truth. :shock:
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Luis Ko
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文章: 970
註冊時間: 週三 6月 06, 2007 10:18 pm

Re: 5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Luis Ko »

ok, i will somewhat alter my answer..

if i saw a beautiful girl sitting nearby when walking a dog, i would take a glance at her first, then try to have a second, or even third glance, till i had an eye contact with her. if i didn't sense her disapproval, then i would unleash the dog to approach her, of course only if the dog is well trained haa, and caught up with the dog after it reached her. or after the eye contact, i would try to walk the dog towards her, and then i could say, "hi~ sorry for bothering you, but my dog just gets into the habit of playing with gorgeous girl.. may i have your phone number, for him?"

:lol:
i might be a cynic and, a sceptic as well but, i'm definitely not a bad person!!
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Rock
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Re: 5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Rock »

That is a super smart idea. I wish I'd known it early, like 30 years ago. Sigh... :?
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
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Gloria Lo
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註冊時間: 週一 2月 04, 2008 7:51 am

Re: 5/13 (Sat.) How Dogs Help Men Date? (Host:Rock)

文章 Gloria Lo »

Luis, what a good trick.

If my memory serves me right, Tom Hanks also got a dog in the movie "You've got a mail"(電子情書). It also helped its master's romance with Meg Ryan. :sun:
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