6. Discussion
Our findings suggest that direct lines are preferred over flippant and
innocuous lines, with the innocuous lines being the least preferred. This
finding supports Hypothesis 1 and is consistent with the findings of
Kleinke et al. (1986). Our results also indicate that attractiveness plays
a more significant role than promiscuousness, as indicated by clothing,
on the effectiveness of pick-up lines. However, as attractiveness and
promiscuousness were not tested in isolation of each other, further
testing is certainly needed. Further, Hypothesis 2 was supported in that
the women in the high attractiveness and high promiscuousness condition
were rated to be the most effective, although there was no difference
caused by promiscuity for those using direct lines. The low
attractiveness and low promiscuousness condition also led to the lowest
perceived effectiveness scores, particularly if matched with an innocuous
pick-up line.
Flippant pick-up lines deserve particular attention. When combining
the results from the current as well as prior studies on flippant lines
with research on humour, there is conflicting information. The results
of research on humor suggest that women prefer men who are funny
and have a good sense of humor, as it shows off their intelligence and
creativity (Bressler et al., 2006; Guéguen, 2010). If this is the case, then
the flippant pick-up lines (i.e., the funny lines) should be the most
successful of the categories when in reality, they are not. In fact, according
to Senko and Fyffe (2010), flippant line users are perceived as
unintelligent by women. Research on humor also indicates that men do
not particularly like funny women; instead they like women who enjoy
their sense of humor (Bressler et al., 2006). These findings suggest that
men would be less receptive to flippant lines, but this is not so; men
preferred flippant lines more than innocuous lines in the current study
(see also Kleinke et al., 1986; Wade et al., 2009; Weber et al., 2010).
To offer insight on why some lines may be better received than
others, Cooper, O'Donnell, Caryl, Morrison, and Bale (2007) propose
that pick-up lines may serve a function besides relationship initiation.
Users may administer the lines to assess personality and test to see if the
individual they have selected is worth their time. For example, a
sexually flippant line may be used to judge how sexually permissive an
individual is, or how sexually exploitable an individual may be
(Goetz, Easton, Lewis, & Buss, 2012) by their response. In other words,
depending on the line choice, the line user can test for behaviours or
personality traits they do or do not desire in a prospective mate.
There were some limitations with the current research, one of which
is that the women used in the photographs were all professional
clothing models. Thus, the women are not representative of the general
population. Further, rating photographs and stated pick-up lines is far
less realistic than being approached by women in real-life; prosodic
(e.g., intonation) and kinesic (e.g., gestures) communication may make
a difference in the way the lines are perceived. Support is provided by
Bale et al. (2006) who suggest that results from experimental work may
change if researchers perform their studies in real bars, with individuals
being presented with the pick-up lines by potential mates. Although
Senko and Fyffe (2010) found that their paper and pencil study was just
as reliable as a field study, there is always the possibility that real life
situations might cause different results.
The reason underlying the effectiveness of direct pick-up lines needs
to be further explored. Past researchers have proposed that their effectiveness
is due to a lack of ambiguity. If so, then lines that clearly
state one's romantic or sexual interest should be the most effective,
while those that merely indicate interest should be less effective.
However, stating one's intentions immediately may be perceived as
being over-eager or desperate, which results in a negative first impression
(but see Walster, Walster, Piliavin, & Schmidt, 1973). Also, a
woman stating her intentions directly could lead to a bad mate choice
since the woman may need to keep an interaction with a potential mate
going for a short time in order to get him to reveal his true characteristics
and disposition (see Grammer et al., 2000). Therefore, there needs
to be further scrutiny on compromises with respect to content, such that
some forms of direct lines are considered better than others.
It may be advantageous to investigate one's preference for long and
short-term relationships, as it may influence ratings of pick-up lines’
effectiveness. It is possible that individuals currently seeking short-term
relationships may rate more lines as being effective than those seeking
long-term relationships. This possibility is based on Sexual Strategies
Theory, which proposes that individuals relax their standards when
pursuing short-term relationships and raise their standards for longterm
relationships (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Also, some forms of direct
lines may be more effective than others in some short term or long term
situations.
The current study replicates Wade et al. (2009), who examine the
perceived effectiveness of women using direct, innocuous, and flippant
pick-up lines on men. Similarly, we found direct lines were perceived as
the most effective, followed by flippant, and innocuous. We extended
past work to examine the potential influence of women's attractiveness
and promiscuousness, as indicated by clothing, and found that attractiveness
was more important than promiscuousness except when using
a direct pick-up line. Promiscuousness may have had a lesser effect than
attractiveness due to recent societal efforts to curtail “slut-shaming”
(i.e., labelling women as promiscuous based on their clothing choices
and participation in frequent short term mating). Within this movement
terms such as “slut” and women's provocative clothing choices are
celebrated rather than lambasted (see Attwood, 2007; Ringrose &
Renold, 2012).