July 27, 2005

Good date gift: expensive but worthless

British researchers say if men believe they are frittering away their money wining and dining a girl to win her hand, they should think again.

Peter Sozou and Professor Robert Seymour of University College London say they've developed a mathematical model that shows how expensive, but worthless, gifts may help facilitate courtship.

The scientists said their study shows gifts can act as a signal of a man's intention. And offering an expensive gift may signal a long-term commitment -- but the man must be wary of being exploited by a gold-digger who intends to dump him once she gets the gift.

They determined an extravagant gift, which is costly to the man but worthless to the woman -- such as a dinner or show tickets -- may solve the problem since a costly gift signals the man has long-term intentions, but the gift deters gold-diggers by being worthless.

The study is detailed in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B.

Citation: Good date gift: expensive but worthless (2005, July 27) retrieved 17 July 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2005-07-good-date-gift-expensive-worthless.html

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