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Proteans are unpredictable, subtle, often subconscious, flirting signals, such as a woman's touching her hair when first meeting a man.
The term, was coined by Humphries and Driver in 1970 [1] , for unpredictable behaviour exhibited by prey animals. It was used in the context of human courtship behaviour by Grammer et al in 2000[2] .
The researchers named the ritual for the shape-shifting Greek god because of the ambiguity of the signals. The name also suggests a first impression, or something that precedes actual flirting. Because of the unconscious nature of proteans, they are not overt invitations to proceed, but more akin to "tells" in a poker game.
These signals often indicate that the sender is trying to decide whether he/she is interested in the "receiver". However, some individuals, instead of playing along, will overestimate the sender's interest and do something more obvious, like asking for a phone number. This can be clumsy and confusing to both parties, and understanding the concept of protean signals is useful for avoiding such missteps. This is commonly said to be a problem for more men than women.[3]
References
- ^ Humphries, D.A. (1970), "Protean defence by prey animals", Oecologica 5: 285-302
- ^ Grammer, K (2000), "Non-verbal behaviour as courtship signals:the role of control and choice in selecting partners", Evolution and Human Behaviour 21: 371-390
- ^ Daily Times, Pakistan Mar 17 2003: Solved: flirting code that baffles the boys
External links
- New Scientist - Girl talk – Review of an Austrian study of similar phenomena
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