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Key points
- As exemplified by phenomena like the “Incel” movement, dating can have profound impacts on politics and society.
- Dating and politics are connected because people unconsciously hold socio-political attitudes that reflect their dating interests.
- A new study shows that popularity among potential dating partners causally affects some of men’s, but not women’s, socio-political attitudes.
At a first glance, dating may seem irrelevant to other aspects of an individual’s life, especially their socio-political attitudes. Yet, there is mounting scientific evidence that romantic successes and failures, and the feedback that individuals receive on the dating market, can impact politics.
One needs to look no further than the “Incel” phenomenon to have a practical example of how dating can affect politics. The involuntary celibates (Incels) are an internet subculture mostly comprised of heterosexual men. Incels say they hold misogynistic attitudes and oppose gender equality because they are unfairly rejected by women. Incels not only post hateful comments on the internet, but they have also been responsible for terrorist attacks aimed at hurting and killing women.
Unstable dating markets characterized by an abundance of men and a scarcity of women, pronounced income inequality, and high “bride prices” (the price in some places that a groom’s family must pay to the bride’s family, usually consisting of money or presents) can lead to radicalization and violence. In other words, in places where many men are unable to find and secure romantic partners or afford marriage, violence, conflicts, and phenomena like the Incel movement become more common.
But why does dating popularity have such a strong influence over socio-political attitudes and behavior? Why do our experiences in the dating market affect the way we think and see the world?
Empirical evidence suggests that dating influences attitudes because people, although often unconsciously, adopt the socio-political attitudes that best reflect their dating and reproductive interests. That is, people who are sexually conservative and are threatened by casual sex hold attitudes that best defend monogamy and traditional values, whereas people who are sexually liberal hold attitudes that allow free sexual expression. Studies have found that sexually conservative people are, for example, significantly more religious, against gay marriage, and in support of authorities than sexually liberal people.
A person’s popularity in the dating market depends, however, on many ever-changing circumstances. A successful gamer is popular at a gaming convention, but perhaps not at a body-building convention. A person who earns a six-figure salary is popular if they are in an area where most people earn five-figure salaries, but not if they are in an area full of millionaires. It is then possible that a person shifts their socio-political attitudes to promote values that best serve their interests in different circumstances.
While observing how dating and socio-political attitudes are related to each other in the real world is important, experiments manipulating dating popularity are necessary to establish causation between dating and attitudes. These experiments allow researchers to test whether dating popularity affects socio-political attitudes, and eliminate alternative explanations, such as that a person’s socio-political attitudes affect their dating popularity or that both dating popularity and socio-political attitudes are caused by another factor.
One experiment showed that heterosexual men, but not women, reported more positive attitudes towards casual sex after being told that they were rated as excellent dating partners. In another experiment, heterosexual men, but not women, who were romantically rejected on an ostensible dating website, reported higher hostility towards the opposite sex. Therefore, dating popularity can affect some attitudes, at least in heterosexual men.
In collaboration with my Ph.D. supervisors, Rob Brooks and Khandis Blake, I aimed to expand upon these findings and tested whether heterosexual people who are popular among potential dating partners report significantly different socio-political attitudes than unpopular people. We created an experimental manipulation of dating popularity that mimicked realistic dating scenarios, such as talking with several potential partners on Tinder, or mingling with strangers in a bar, and receiving positive or negative feedback from each of them.
We recruited young, heterosexual participants (aged 18 to 25) and told them they would participate in a dating game. Each participant recorded an introductory video, in which they described themselves with the goal of making a good first impression. We then ostensibly sent participants’ videos to five opposite-sex peers, who in turn sent back short video feedback indicating whether they would date the participants or not (the feedback videos were pre-recorded with paid actors).
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either positive or negative romantic feedback from each of the five peers, forming a continuous dating popularity experimental manipulation: from high to low popularity. The “popular participants” received a higher number of positive feedback videos, whereas “unpopular participants” received a higher number of negative feedback videos. We then measured participants’ attitudes towards casual sex, traditional gender roles, the minimum wage and healthcare, and implicit sexual and political attitudes.
We found that "unpopular" men reported less support for casual sex than "popular" men. Dating popularity did not influence any of women’s attitudes. Men’s emotions were impacted by their dating popularity, with "unpopular" men reporting feeling positive emotions such as happiness, enthusiasm, and pride to a lesser extent than "popular" men. This, in turn, resulted in "unpopular" men reporting less support for casual sex and less support for increasing the minimum wage and expanding access to healthcare.
In line with previous studies, results from our experiment suggest that heterosexual men are sensitive to changes in their dating market prospects and adjust their socio-political attitudes accordingly. Unpopular and popular men in the experiment adopted the attitudes that best defended their interests. "Unpopular" men, unable to attract dating partners, reported that they were more unwilling to have casual sex and more opposed to others having casual sex than the "popular" men, who instead attracted many partners. Interestingly, feeling fewer positive emotions resulted in "unpopular" men reporting more anti-egalitarian attitudes than "popular" men, which is an important finding that should be further tested in future research.
With research showing that dating, reproduction, and politics are intertwined, it is becoming clearer that the experiences people have in different dating markets can impact everyday political life. Experimental evidence can be key in our understanding of the mechanisms through which dating can cause shifts in socio-political attitudes.
