Are We Stupid Around 'Hot' People?

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Why We Are Stupid Around 'Hot' People
By Heath Shive 

My friends were talking about their lives – between the ages of 21 and 31 – when they were going to bars 4 times a week.

Their hard-earned money evaporated in a series of dates, dinners, and drinks!  Then it was ramen noodles every day until payday. 

Why are we so wasteful in youth? 

Is it evolutionary psychology? 

To the science!

Money Now or Later

In 2004, psychologists Margo Wilson and Martin Daly published a study that seemed to indicate that males are more reckless with money around ‘hot’ women.  However, women are not so reckless around ‘hot’ men.    
 
When humans ‘discount the future,’ we sacrifice future rewards for immediate gratification.  Wilson and Daly assessed students’ monetary choices when comparing the desire for low-money rewards ($15-$35) ‘tomorrow’ against a higher reward ($50-$75) in the future. 

The value of indifference (or monetary recklessness) was measured as value ‘k’ in the study. For example, it makes sense to sacrifice a chance at $50 in 6 months for a chance at $35 tomorrow (a low k-choice).  But it’s more reckless if you sacrifice a chance at $75 next week just so you have a chance of $15 tomorrow (a high k-choice). 

Suckers for a Pretty Face?

There were 200 students (96 male, 113 female).  Each student was seated at a private computer and given 3 tasks: 1) a first set of monetary choices to set a k value, 2) a series of 12 images, and then 3) another set of monetary choices for another k value. 

For half of the students, the images were either of ‘hot’ opposite-sex faces or ‘not-hot’ faces (lifted from HotorNot.com). 

The other students saw images either of ‘hot’ cars or ‘not-hot’ cars. 

Men’s k-value (monetary recklessness) escalated significantly after seeing ‘hot’ women!  Men’s k-value didn’t change much at all after seeing ‘not-hot’ women. 

Women’s k-value increased when they saw ‘hot’ men, but the “change was not significant.”  And there wasn’t much of a k-value difference between women who saw ‘hot’ men versus ‘not-hot’ men.

The study’s men seemed to ‘discount the future’ (be more reckless with money) when ‘hot’ women entered their minds. 

The study’s women seemed to maintain their monetary choices regardless of the attractiveness of men.   

Oddly enough, women’s k-value did increase significantly…after they saw ‘hot’ cars!

Debt and Sex          

In 2008, Daniel Kruger released a paper that showed that the more sexually active a man was – thus “successful” in evolutionary terms – the more likely he had large credit card debt.  The group tested was comprised of men between the ages of 18 to 45, from different zip codes, incomes, and marital status.  But the results were the same.  The men who admitted to the largest number of sexual encounters also admitted to having the smallest savings and higher debt.

Someone who spends everything doesn’t have wealth, they have debt.  But Kruger’s study showed that high financial consumption still signals wealth, and so is a successful mating strategy.    

Conclusion

Did you waste your twenties?  Most of us did! 

It might have to do with youthful exuberance and lack of experience. 

It might also have to do with how we are programmed on a genetic level.

​But still...what a ride.

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Sources:
Kruger, D.J. (2008). Male financial consumption is associated with higher mating intentions and mating success. Evolutionary Psychology, 6, 603-612.

Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (2004). Do pretty women inspire men to discount the future? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271(Suppl 4), S177–S179.
 

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