These opening sentences work best for men

When men open a conversation with an opening sentence, it’s often not a bull’s-eye. From “hey cat, let’s do a tour” to “may I take a picture of you, so Santa Claus knows what I want for Christmas”. Often gentlemen don’t immediately know how to address someone. But what about the ladies? Do they also use smooth sentences, and do they look better?

New research published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences dealt with these questions and poured them into an online experiment. A team of psychologists led by Maryanne Fisher of the University of Saint Mary in Halifax, Canada, tested out which three types of opening phrases best scored in men: direct, inconsiderate, and cautious. What turned out? With a direct approach, ladies were the most successful.

“The first communication that takes place between potential romantic partners is crucial to determine whether an interaction and the subsequent relationship continue or not,” Fisher believes. “We looked at which opening sentences that women use for men are the most effective. Our research shows that a direct approach is preferred.”

Fisher’s team collected 130 heterosexual men for the study. During the investigation, the participants had to look at 12 photographs of women with an opening sentence. Also, each photo asked how attractive the men liked the ladies, how well the opening line worked, and whether the men suspect that the ladies often had relationships.

The opening sentences were, therefore, divided.

• The direct one: “Would you like to have a drink together?”, “You have very beautiful eyes”, “Can I have your number?”
• Inconsiderate: “Shall we keep talking or just flirting from a distance?”, “I see you here more often; you really have to be a good customer!”
• Caution: “Can you recommend me a good drink?”, “Where did you put that tattoo, did that hurt?” And “hello.”

The researchers then analyzed how well the opening sentences scored. The direct ones did the best, the inconsiderate got second and the cautious beaches out of three. In addition, the researchers discovered that the attractiveness of women played a more significant role than the sentence they used. Men gave an excellent score to just about every opening sentence by pretty women, and the results changed as women became less attractive.