Show Off!

Why do men "show off" in the presence of attractive women?

Some recent research by Richard Ronay and William von Hippel reported in the January, 2010 issue of the journal, Social Psycholgical and Personality Science, suggests that it is as simple as testosterone.

Their research consisted of having skateboarders try certain difficult maneuvers. Some had an attractive woman watching them, some did not. They measured testosterone levels and observed risk-taking.

The result? "Increased risk taking leads to more successes but also more crash landings in front of a female observer... [T]his increase in risk taking is caused in part by elevated testosterone levels of men who performed in front of the attractive female... These results suggest that men use physical risk taking as a sexual display strategy."

Evolutionary psychology would suggest that the reason for this is mate-selection. The successful continuation of our species has been dependent on each sex finding a partner who is fertile. They look for physical clues for fertility. Testosterone makes a man fertile. Evidence of testosterone is physical prowess.

I don't know. I'm having trouble picturing an attractive woman saying of a college dropout who just crashed his skateboard in front of her, "I want THAT one!"