Handsome? Tick. Funny? Tick. Good storyteller? Huh? No we don’t mean the habitual liar kind, oh no. We’re talking someone who has the ‘gift of the gab’ because this, as it turns out, is the key to a women’s heart.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin…
US scientists from the University of North Carolina showed a number of men and women a photo of the opposite sex along with an assessment of their storytelling skills and a biography that each participant had written. They then asked the men and women if they would like to have that person as a date, friend or long-term partner. The study showed that men deemed it irrelevant to whether a woman had the ability to tell a good tale, but the majority of the women judged a man who was good with words as someone worth settling down with.
In a final study, participants were asked to read a poorly told or well told tale and the results came back the same. Women were attracted to good reading skills, men not so.
Asked if they thought the person was a high earner, high achiever or leader. It was found that people with the ability to spin a good yarn were deemed successful and authoritative with women rating them as more intelligent and influential.
Dr Melanie Green who writes for the journal Personal Relationships concluded that women place more value on status when looking for a long-term partner as it indicates they’ll be good potential fathers and providers, “Stories are not just mere conversation. It increases a man’s perceived status and this helps them attract partners.”
So, if you’re off on a date any time soon, think of a few tales you can spice up in a creative, animated fashion. Writing that online dating profile? Why not start with the opening lines of your favourite book…
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but if you want to know the truth…(date me)
Do you have a way with words? Does it help you get dated? Woo us @Lovestruck
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