Australian Men’s Fitness – September 2019

Typecast

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Crazycatlover

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Relationships
Breakthroughs

New psychology research

in Social Psychological and

Personality Science has

revealed that up to 33% of women

say they’ve engaged in a “foodie call”

• where they set up a date just for
  a free meal. And these women also
  happen to score high on the “dark triad”
  of personality traits as well. What’s
  the dark triad, you ask? Psychopathy,
  Machiavellianism and narcissism.
  Not a fun bunch to be sharing a romantic
  dinner with. “Several dark traits
  have been linked to deceptive and
  exploitative behaviour in romantic
  relationships, such as one-night
  stands, faking an orgasm or sending
  unsolicited sexual pictures,” says
  study author Brian Collisson. Women
  who engage in foodie calls and believe
  it to be acceptable behaviour also tend
  to hold “traditional gender role beliefs”,
  the researchers found. They also point
  out that foodie calls are perpetrated by
  both genders.

Foodie call?

■Evercomeoutof

a badbreak-upand

decidedthatyouneed

tomeetsomeone

differentfromyour

usual“type”?Easier

saidthandone.That’s

accordingtoresearch

fromtheUniversity

ofToronto,Canada,

whichhasfoundthat

peopleoftenlookfor

lovewiththesame

typeofpersonover

andoveragain.“It’s

commonthatwhen

a relationshipends,

peopleattributethe

break-uptotheir

ex-partner’s

personality and

decide they need to

date a different type

of person,” says lead

study author Yoobin

Park. “Our research

suggests there’s

a strong tendency

to nevertheless

continue to date

a similarpersonality.”

And while you might

not want to date

someone just like

your horrible ex, using

the skills you learnt

from navigating your

last relationship can

help you to build

a healthier, happier

relationship next

time around.

28 MEN’S FITNESS SEPTEMBER 2019

■Thepronouns

peopleusewhen

describingtheir

romantic

relationshipscan

offercluesastotheir

attachmentstyles,

saysresearchin

SocialPsychological

andPersonality

Science. Thestudy

saysthattypically,

attachmentstyles

arerepresentedby

twofactors– anxiety

(reflecting the degree

to which an individual

is preoccupied

with, and fears

losing, his or her

romantic partner)

and avoidance

(reflecting the

degree to which

an individual feels

uncomfortable

getting close to, and

depending upon,

his or her partner).

We are not amused

Avoidant attachment

people are less likely

to use the words

“we”, “us” and “ours”

when talking about

their relationships.

So if you’re on the

lookout for a new

partner, keep your

ears open on that

first date when

you ask about their

past relationships.

Beware the

dark triad: all she

wants is dinner.

Creepy cat guy loves you.

To get a reading on

your health, look at

your friends, says

a study in PLOS ONE.

Researchers got

participants to wear

Fitbits and answer

surveys about

stress, happiness

and positivity. This

data was analysed

against each person’s

social network

characteristics, such

as connectivity and

closeness. The study

showed a strong

link between social

network structures,

heart rate and level of

activity – if you have

a greater number of

strong, satisfying

friendships, you’re

more likely to live a

healthier, active life.

THE SOCIAL

NETWORK