Seduction
In
Strategies of seduction include conversation and
Seduction, seen negatively, involves temptation and enticement, often sexual in nature, to lead someone astray into a behavioural choice they would not have made if they were not in a state of sexual arousal. Seen positively, seduction is a synonym for the act of charming someone—male or female—by an appeal to the senses, often with the goal of reducing unfounded fears and leading to their "sexual emancipation." Some sides in contemporary academic debate state that the morality of seduction depends on the long-term impacts on the individuals concerned, rather than the act itself, and may not necessarily carry the negative connotations expressed in dictionary definitions.[8]
History
Seduction is a popular motif in history and fiction, both as a warning of the social consequences of engaging in the behaviour or becoming its victim, and as a salute to a powerful skill.
In biblical times, because unmarried females who lost their virginity had also lost much of their value as marriage prospects, the Old Testament Book of Exodus specifies that the seducer must marry his victim or pay her father to compensate him for his loss of the marriage price: "And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins."
The Book of Judges in the Old Testament describes Delilah seducing Samson who was given great strength by God, but ultimately lost his strength when she allowed the Philistines to shave his hair off during his slumber.[11]
Use in sexual relationships
Males and females both implement the strategy of seduction as a method of negotiating their
Research has indicated that seduction could substitute or equate to a form of collapsed or condensed courtship.[5] Evolutionary psychology suggests that this form of sexual enticement can be used in order to cajole desired individuals to engage in sexual intercourse and ultimately reproduce. This behaviour is also aimed at persuading someone to develop a short-term or long-term sexual relationship with them. Males declare that they adopt the strategy of seduction statistically more frequently than females.[12] From an evolutionary perspective this is due to females' higher parental investment and the lack of guarantee of male parental investment.[16] Females therefore need to be seduced more prior to engaging in sexual intercourse. Men more commonly wish to engage in more frequent short-term mating,[17] which may require this strategy of seduction used to access the female for intercourse. However, this finding has been contradicted by non-verbal seduction results which indicate that females have more control within this area.[13] Other potential strategies individuals employ to gain access to a mate include courting or having relatives select mates for socioeconomic reasons.[13] Ultimately, both males and females have reported preferring seduction above all other strategies, such as the use of power or aggression, for making a potential partner agree to sexual intercourse.[12][13]
Human mate poaching
Seduction is related to human mate poaching.
Human mate poaching is a form of seduction, and can be used as a short-term and long-term mating strategy among both sexes. Moreover, there are associated costs and benefits to poaching. Schmitt and Buss (2001)[18] investigated the potential costs and benefits across sexes in relation to human mate poaching. Costs for engaging in poaching behaviours include unwanted pregnancy, transmitted infection and diseases, and insecurity about provisions (shelter, food, and financial security) and/or resource depletion, violence and aggression from the current partner, who takes part in human mate guarding behaviours (behaviours used to protect their mate from other potential males or females). However, the associated benefits include emotional support that may not be received from a current partner, and access to 'good
Evolutionarily speaking, we are descended from our reproductively-successful ancestors who managed to solve the adaptive problem of finding a mate with the required characteristics needed at that time in their lives, e.g., plenty of resources, physical attractiveness, and showing signs of honest fertility. Therefore, our ancestors would have deployed this tactic (for enticing a suitable mate), which remains in our psychology. Some evolved poaching behaviours may not be suitable for current environmental problems. Leftover by-products from human evolution, such as preferences for fat and sugar,[20] are not adaptive in western cultures at present, and thus similar poaching behaviours could still remain.
Strategies
Short term
In males
Short-term strategies involved in seduction are associated with the dark triad,[21] however predominately in males. Short-term strategies are those used by an individual to obtain a mate for a short term sexual encounter.[22]
The
The dark triad traits are seen more in males where the parental investment is lower. Having numerous copulations with many women increases the likelihood their genes will be passed on. Comparatively, a woman has to invest time and a lot of energy in carrying an infant and looking after him/her for many years subsequently.
In females
The triad of traits ancestrally would not have been adaptive for women, because females were and still are less likely or less willing to engage in casual sex,[24][25] because of the lack of certainty of resources to provide for her and her offspring.
Additionally, there are other potential considerations of the implication of short-term strategies. Males cannot employ such strategies without there being willing females to engage in sexual intercourse within a short-term relationship with them. Therefore, benefits from engaging in multiple short-term mating must also exist for females. These matings enable females to practice and enhance their skills, specifically within attraction and seduction.
Improving attraction and seduction skills can also help a female with acquiring a better or more desirable male according to the 'Mate Switching Hypothesis'.[26] This is because, females are able to assess their potential mate before committing to a long-term relationship.[17] Alternatively, according to this hypothesis females are also able to get rid of an unwanted husband through mate expulsion using short-term strategies, such as by seducing another man into a short-term sexual relationship.[27] Females may also be more equipped at deterring male partners from future infidelity, demonstrated by the 'Mate Manipulation Hypothesis'.[26] This hypothesis suggests that females are able to use revenge to deter future infidelity. This can be achieved by a female partaking in a short-term affair, incorporating the use of seduction, with another male as a revenge tactic for her husband's previous affair, which aims to increase commitment of her intended long-term mate.[27][31] These hypotheses indicate the benefits for females of developing and expanding on their seduction skills within sexual relationships.
Long term
'Strategies are defined as evolved solutions to adaptive problems'.[32] Men and women differ in the adaptive problems that they face, and therefore deploy different strategies. Women strongly desire the resources and commitment that comes with paternal parental investment and therefore impose a longer period of time for courtship and use of seduction prior to engaging in a long-term sexual relationship. Women also spend time seeking and seducing men that are willing to invest and commit in the long run.[33] It is likely that exploitative strategies will not be used when seducing a long-term partner.[22] The traits associated within the dark triad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism) are not useful for long term mating strategies because they are negatively correlated with agreeableness, empathy and reciprocation, which are traits promoting a healthy relationship.[23]
Biosocial theory
Kenrick and Trost (1987)[4] have formulated a Biosocial theory of heterosexual relationships which encompasses several stages of seduction. This includes five stages of natural progression:
- Individuals identify a potential partner based on desired characteristics such as physical attraction
- Both individuals establish contact
- Other traits of the individual that are not necessarily explicit are analysed to determine fitness
- A physical relationship is established
- The relationship is either successful and progresses or discontinued
Within these stages, both individuals are interacting in a game which is never explicit, this is because if either individual were to be rejected this would damage their self-esteem. Therefore, when seducing, the overarching aims and goals are never vocalised to the other desired individual. This is sometimes referred to as paradoxical exhibition.[4]
The main goal of seduction whether it is active under conscious or unconscious mechanisms is to impress the desired partner and display positive characteristics that are likely to be attractive, and to repress undesirable characteristics.[4]
Non-verbal communication
Within the interactive seduction game, non-verbal communication is a prominent feature in accessing the desirable potential mate. The purpose of this communication is to reduce the interpersonal distance between the desired individuals.
Physiological features such as pupil dilation[34] are a salient cue, expressing attraction. Leading on from this, eye contact is a very notable sign of attraction. Although there are cross cultural differences in whether eye contact is used or not, in Western cultures, the duration of eye contact and the exchange between two individuals is important in the first stages of the biosocial model. Another non-verbal cue in the process of seduction are facial expressions. Smiling is considered another prominent feature in seduction,[3] as it signifies willingness to engage in a social interaction, and in the case of seduction, to participate in creating an intimate bond. These non-verbal behaviours become synchronised between the two individuals which can then lead to the last two stages of the biosocial model.
Paralingual features
Contemporary law
In more modern times, Frank Sinatra was charged in New Jersey in 1938 with seduction, having enticed a woman "of good repute to engage in sexual intercourse with him upon his promise of marriage. The charges were dropped when it was discovered that the woman was already married."[36]
Seduction is also associated with
See also
- Charisma
- Eros (love)
- Femme fatale
- Flirting
- Foreplay
- Freud's seduction theory
- Homosexual seduction
- Incubus and Succubus
- Rake (character)
- Romantic love
- Sperm competition
References
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- ^ a b Andersen, P. A. (1985). "Nonverbal immediacy in interpersonal communication". Multichannel Integrations of Nonverbal Behavior: 1–36.
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- ^ Glare, P. G. (1982). Oxford Latin dictionary. Clarendon Press. Oxford University Press.
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- ISBN 978-1-58046-170-2. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ^ "Judges 16 – English Standard Version". Bible Gateway. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ a b c McCormick, N. B. & Jesser, C. J. (1983). "The courtship game: Power in the sexual encounter. Changing boundaries". Changing Boundaries: Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior.
- ^ a b c d Grammer, K (1989). "Human courtship behaviour: Biological basis and cognitive processing". The Sociobiology of Sexual and Reproductive Strategies: 147–169.
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- ^ Robert, T. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. Sexual Selection & the Descent of Man. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. pp. 136–179.
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- ^ a b c Symons, D. (1979). The evolution of human sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Smith, R. L. (1984). Human sperm competition. In R. L. Smith, Sperm competition and the evolution of mating systems. New York: Academic Press. pp. 601–659.
- ^ Grammer, K. (1989). "Human courtship behavior: Biological basis and cognitive processing". The Sociobiology of Sexual and Reproductive Strategies: 147–169.
- ^ Perper, T. & Fox, V. S. (1980). "Flirtation and pickup pattern in bars". In Eastern Conference on Reproductive Behavior, New York.
- ^ Greiling, H. (1993). Women's short-term sexual strategies. In Conference on Evolution and the Social Sciences, London School of Economics, London, England.
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- ^ Buss, D. M. (2003). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating (Rev. ed.). New York: Basic Books.
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- ^ Mary Ann Mason: From Father's Property to Children's Rights: A History of Child Custody Archived September 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Hollywood Behind Bars – Frank Sinatra Mugshot Archived 2012-09-04 at archive.today – Women's seduction Archived 2016-08-13 at the Wayback Machine. Jonhs.com. 2007-02-01. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-14-043915-3
- ISBN 0-691-01737-9
- Greene, R. (2010). The art of seduction (Vol. 1). ISBN 9780142001196]]
External links
- Media related to Seduction at Wikimedia Commons
- Bibliography of Don Juan
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .