WEBVTT 00:00:00.334 --> 00:00:02.633 - [Narrator] Decide when to pair up and with whom 00:00:02.633 --> 00:00:05.907 is a riddle that evolutionary psychologist Douglas Kenrick 00:00:05.907 --> 00:00:09.297 has tried to solve for decades. 00:00:09.297 --> 00:00:11.596 - If we all just went for good genes, 00:00:11.596 --> 00:00:15.288 everyone would be unhappy if the guys didn't end up 00:00:15.288 --> 00:00:17.517 you know with Jennifer Lopez 00:00:17.517 --> 00:00:20.117 or some other fashion model, 00:00:20.117 --> 00:00:21.487 they would just stop then. 00:00:21.487 --> 00:00:24.436 And the women would stop if they couldn't get Brad Pitt 00:00:24.436 --> 00:00:26.828 or some extremely handsome guy. 00:00:26.828 --> 00:00:29.498 In real life, people have to match up with one another. 00:00:29.498 --> 00:00:31.844 (intense music) 00:00:31.844 --> 00:00:34.166 - [Narrator] How does this matching up process work? 00:00:34.166 --> 00:00:37.091 To find out, Dr. Kenrick gathered 10 men 00:00:37.091 --> 00:00:39.460 and 10 women from a fairly average range 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:41.875 of physical attractiveness and prepared to perform 00:00:41.875 --> 00:00:45.520 a few experiments in human social dynamics. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.376 First he stripped away as many differences as possible 00:00:48.376 --> 00:00:50.443 between the guinea pigs by dressing them 00:00:50.443 --> 00:00:53.943 in identical and sexually neutral outfits. 00:00:58.732 --> 00:01:01.588 - Okay now you're gonna play a sort of a mating game. 00:01:01.588 --> 00:01:03.632 You all have a number as you can see. 00:01:03.632 --> 00:01:04.723 You can't see your own number, 00:01:04.723 --> 00:01:06.348 but you can see the other peoples' numbers. 00:01:06.348 --> 00:01:08.090 Offer your hands to someone, 00:01:08.090 --> 00:01:11.271 and if they accept it, then you've paired up 00:01:11.271 --> 00:01:13.361 and you walk back to the back. 00:01:13.361 --> 00:01:16.704 If the person does not accept your offer, 00:01:16.704 --> 00:01:19.839 then you'd move on and offer it to someone else. 00:01:19.839 --> 00:01:22.579 Again the task being to try to get the highest number 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:23.579 that you can 00:01:24.483 --> 00:01:27.223 and realizing that you have a number on your own head 00:01:27.223 --> 00:01:30.427 that they are responding to as well. 00:01:30.427 --> 00:01:34.027 (mysterious music) 00:01:34.027 --> 00:01:35.861 - [Narrator] The numbers, drawn at random, 00:01:35.861 --> 00:01:38.160 are meant to represent desirability. 00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:41.039 One being least and 10 being most. 00:01:41.039 --> 00:01:42.339 In the real world, 00:01:42.339 --> 00:01:44.011 where most of us don't know exactly 00:01:44.011 --> 00:01:45.683 how attractive we are, 00:01:45.683 --> 00:01:48.771 we tend to aim high, trying to snare a 10. 00:01:48.771 --> 00:01:51.302 Then gradually we work our way down to someone 00:01:51.302 --> 00:01:52.885 who will accept us. 00:02:00.033 --> 00:02:02.401 - Some of the people are trying 00:02:02.401 --> 00:02:04.863 and not getting paired. 00:02:04.863 --> 00:02:06.929 The two people who are fives have paired up 00:02:06.929 --> 00:02:08.346 with one another. 00:02:24.251 --> 00:02:26.945 It wasn't like the 10s perfectly matched 00:02:26.945 --> 00:02:29.685 and the ones perfectly matched, 00:02:29.685 --> 00:02:32.239 but you did get a correlation. 00:02:32.239 --> 00:02:34.282 The people with the high numbers 00:02:34.282 --> 00:02:36.535 were able to hold back a little bit longer, 00:02:36.535 --> 00:02:37.905 and they got more offers. 00:02:37.905 --> 00:02:40.343 The people with the low numbers didn't get any offers. 00:02:40.343 --> 00:02:44.569 And that's sort of what happens in a real mating pool. 00:02:44.569 --> 00:02:46.450 - [Narrator] The experiment opens a window 00:02:46.450 --> 00:02:49.120 into the mind of an adolescent who is not yet 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:53.439 fully aware of how attractive he or she is. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:57.247 - Let's imagine teenagers in a high school. 00:02:57.247 --> 00:02:59.871 You've got a guy and a girl 00:02:59.871 --> 00:03:01.450 who are both 10s. 00:03:01.450 --> 00:03:03.029 Well what's gonna happen to them is they're gonna get 00:03:03.029 --> 00:03:05.606 a lot of offers from the opposite sex, 00:03:05.606 --> 00:03:07.905 and they're eventually gonna have some sense 00:03:07.905 --> 00:03:10.947 that they have lots of more opportunities. 00:03:10.947 --> 00:03:12.874 If you're a five or a six, 00:03:12.874 --> 00:03:14.430 as most people are, 00:03:14.430 --> 00:03:15.591 they'll let you know. 00:03:15.591 --> 00:03:17.797 You'll get feedback basically. 00:03:17.797 --> 00:03:19.933 - [Narrator] This is something we all have to learn, 00:03:19.933 --> 00:03:22.185 and it can be a painful process. 00:03:22.185 --> 00:03:24.577 (mysterious music) 00:03:24.577 --> 00:03:26.829 To glimpse a sped-up version of this learning curve, 00:03:26.829 --> 00:03:29.174 Dr. Kenrick put a microphone on the woman 00:03:29.174 --> 00:03:31.961 who was ranked number three and asked her to narrate 00:03:31.961 --> 00:03:34.294 her mate selection strategy. 00:03:37.069 --> 00:03:38.973 - I guess everyone's gonna start off going to 00:03:38.973 --> 00:03:40.473 the number 10 guy. 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:46.477 Three, one, four, 10, oh 10 is taken now. 00:03:48.215 --> 00:03:51.953 Nobody will make eye contact with me. 00:03:51.953 --> 00:03:53.787 I'm not really used to that. 00:03:53.787 --> 00:03:56.342 I like that one, yeah. 00:03:56.342 --> 00:03:59.709 But his number's too low, I can do better. 00:03:59.709 --> 00:04:01.876 Let's see, one, no, seven. 00:04:03.354 --> 00:04:05.212 I could, oh he's being paired off. 00:04:05.212 --> 00:04:06.884 I have a feeling I have a very low number 00:04:06.884 --> 00:04:09.600 because no one's coming over to me at all right now. 00:04:09.600 --> 00:04:11.806 Come on, two, no, 00:04:11.806 --> 00:04:13.973 I can do better than that. 00:04:15.359 --> 00:04:17.935 We're running out of numbers. 00:04:17.935 --> 00:04:18.853 One, eight, 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:23.904 I guess this is all that's left. 00:04:23.904 --> 00:04:25.904 Okay I'm stuck with two. 00:04:27.433 --> 00:04:30.350 (mysterious music) 00:04:35.096 --> 00:04:36.884 - [Narrator] After using random numbers, 00:04:36.884 --> 00:04:39.252 Dr. Kenrick wanted to see how things would turn out 00:04:39.252 --> 00:04:41.806 if he let true physical attractiveness 00:04:41.806 --> 00:04:43.826 drive mate selection. 00:04:43.826 --> 00:04:45.498 When the volunteers first arrive, 00:04:45.498 --> 00:04:48.238 before the men and women met face-to-face, 00:04:48.238 --> 00:04:50.839 Kenrick had them rate each others' physical appearance 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:52.743 on a scale of one to 10. 00:04:52.743 --> 00:04:54.275 He pooled the numbers for each person 00:04:54.275 --> 00:04:57.108 and came up with an attractiveness rating. 00:04:57.108 --> 00:04:59.662 Now it's time for the test subjects to try 00:04:59.662 --> 00:05:03.656 and reel in the most physically attractive person they can. 00:05:03.656 --> 00:05:06.073 (drum music) 00:05:08.672 --> 00:05:10.878 - We are going to change the rules a little bit. 00:05:10.878 --> 00:05:13.084 And we're gonna begin by asking the ladies 00:05:13.084 --> 00:05:15.751 to take your head stockings off. 00:05:23.184 --> 00:05:26.156 Okay now if the guys would all remove 00:05:26.156 --> 00:05:27.906 their head coverings. 00:05:30.104 --> 00:05:32.612 Let your own preferences now 00:05:32.612 --> 00:05:34.400 you know have their way, 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:36.907 and again, keeping in mind the last game, 00:05:36.907 --> 00:05:38.556 try to get the person who you regard 00:05:38.556 --> 00:05:42.712 as the highest attractiveness in your opinion. 00:05:42.712 --> 00:05:45.629 (mysterious music) 00:06:13.316 --> 00:06:14.825 - [Narrator] Just as Kenrick expected, 00:06:14.825 --> 00:06:17.078 each person found a partner within a point or so 00:06:17.078 --> 00:06:18.328 of themselves.