There's a school of thought when it comes to dating that posing a challenge to a potential mate piques their interest.
Don't do it.
Anew study reviewed the findings of six other studies on the topic and revealed that playing "hard to get" is a losing hand for those looking for a relationship.
"People may protect themselves from the possibility of a painful rejection by distancing themselves from potentially rejecting partners," says study co-authorHarry Reis, a professor in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at Rochester.
In other words, the harder-to-get you act, the less likely someone is to pursue you at all.
Instead, "certainty" of a potential partner was found to be more sexually attractive. Asked to rate sexual attractiveness on a five-point scale, with higher scores meaning greater attraction, those who felt more certain in a new relationship rated their potential partner's sexual attraction at an average 3.15. The hard-to-gets, however, rated an average 2.73 out of five.
"People experience higher levels of sexual desire when they feel confident about a partner’s interest and acceptance," Reis explained.