In the unending quest for women to find appropriate matches while still in their 20's, several new weapons in the arsenal of allure have emerged: (a) enhanced cleavage through the use of implants or inserts, and (b) chemical attractants such as pheromones. However, the relative merits of these possible assets have not been conclusively demonstrated at the present time. Three of us, all in our twenties, tried a classical experimental design approach to test the relative merits of these, uh, presentation enhancers.
In the past thirty years, the "dating" or "hooking up" opportunities have expanded, with such possibilities as singles' bars, singles' encounters, and speed-dating. Speed dating seemed to constitute an interesting and appropriate setting to test the merits of these enhancements since it had the desirable traits of high numbers, speed, and safety. Also, it was implied to be glamorous on programs like Sex and the City and therefore we know that it is so.
The way that speed dating works is quite simple. You're one of a group of singles who gather in the setting for the brief encounters. You wear a nametag with your first name (first name and initial if there are more than one with your first name), a scorecard and your sparkling personality or something that passes for it. Couples are paired up to begin their first 'date' -- lasting five minutes. They are allowed to discuss anything, except their careers, or where the live.
Following those five minutes of interaction, a bell is rung, and the guys move on to meet their next date. This goes on for a total of 12 five-minute pariings.
After each 'date,' you mark whether they would desire that person again. If both wish to do so, the speed-dating organizers provide each with the other persons phone number.
Each of us participated in eight separate speed dating encounters entailing 12 five-minute encounters; on each occasion we did so under each possible combination of cleavage enhancement (C+ or C-) and phromone usage (P+ or P-) occurring twice; thus, a classical experimental design was employed. The inserts that we used increased each participant by one size. (I refrain from any further details.) After bathing with unscented soap, each user applied either the unscented pheromone or an unscented witch hazel lightly to her neck and face. Knowledge of whether the pheromone or the witch hazel was used was not known at the time of use, due to the bottles being neutrally labeled and identifiable only by a fourth party (a co-conspirator?). Obviously, the cleavage enhancement condition could not be done "blind" in this experimental design! We deliberately kept it modest, by limiting the enhancement to only one cup size and not wearing nipple enhancers (are you sure you want to know about them?). Each of us pledged to act friendly and receptive when encountering male participants, but not to initiate any further encounter on our own. We agreed to, and followed the rules of the speed dating encounters, and met several (12) participants during each session. At the end, each participant received feedback as to whether the male participants desired further encounters.
The following results were observed:
Participant...........C+P+........ C+P-........C-P+........ C-P-
A......................... 14...........12.......... 10............. 7
B......................... 16...........13...........12............. 8
C......................... 12.......... 10.......... 11............. 6
D......................... 13.......... 10...........12............. 7
Total................... 55........... 45........... 45............ 28
The evidence suggests that both enhancing one's cleavage and wearing a pheromone enhances one's attraction value, as opposed to cleavage enhancement alone or pheromone usage alone. Doing either of those is more effective than doing neither. More specifically, using the pheromones and the inserts effectively doubled one's chances of being selected! Since the sample both of female participants wearing the enhancers and the pheromones was small, and the number of male respondents was likewise, it is premature to make any solid conclusions at this time. However, it tenatively seems that a safe strategy is to do both, if possible. (Some of the guys were really cute.)
A possible additional limitation to generalization of results is that they are based on a particular southern urban subset of males, and ones who might participate in innovations such as "speed dating." Further research is needed to determine whether these wiles are effective with other males.
We plan to explore funding for future research through either a NSF or a NEA grant.
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