Social Proof

Social proof is essentially a means to generate Pre-selection, and Propinquity.

Pre-selection was a form of attraction that I feel was adequately outlined in a psychological test covered last year by Benedict Jones. The theory behind Pre-selection has been around since the mid 1900’s and argueably before, however I feel this test sums it up more than well enough for our purposes.

The Test

Benedict Jones Test 05.02.06 participants first viewed eight pairs of male faces and indicated which face in each pair they preferred and how strongly they preferred it. Following this, participants viewed a slideshow where they saw the same pairs of male faces, but in which a woman was shown looking at one of the men in each pair with either a happy expression (i.e. smiling) or a relatively negative (i.e. neutral) expression. After the slide show, participants repeated the initial face preference test.

Results

For female participants, a paired samples t-test comparing the change in mean strength of preference for target faces in the happy and neutral conditions showed that the increase in preference for faces that were smiled at by women during the observation phase was greater than that for faces that were looked at by women with neutral expressions.

So we can see from the test that women generally prefere men that other women are already attracted to. As certain emotions can be ambiguous to see from a distance or without understanding the context; a harmless smile will often be perceived by others as a signature of attraction.

Therefore the more people you speak to in a room and leave feeling good about themselves with regards to you the more pre-selection you will generate. This could be done by anything from going around taking pictures of people, to getting everyone to dance, to buying everyone a drink, to just saying hi to everyone you meet.

However Social Proof is even more powerful as it also generates Propinquity, and this is a form of comfort.

Preselection = Attraction Propinquity = Comfort

Attraction + Comfort = Lay

(Awesome formula eh? Who Said I was crap at maths.)

Propinquity is the term used to describe a physical proximity, special bond, or some form of kinship between things. Psychology views this is one of the leading triggers in interpersonal or social attraction. It roughly relates to being close to someone else in some form or another. This could be in physical terms, i.e you live in the same area as someone or not so physical, you both belong to the same association. The closer the proximity the higher the propinquity. For example those living on the same floor in a building have a higher propinquity than those on different floors.

In this Diagram we can see that A and B would both be attracted to C as C lies within both of A and B’s Circle. Likewise C would be attracted to both A and B and would have the option of choosing either. D is the outsider of the group, and therefore holds the lowest levels of attraction to any of the other parties.

The propinquity effect is the tendency for people to form friendships or romantic relationships with those whom they encounter often. In other words, relationships tend to be formed between those who have a high propinquity. It was first theorized by psychologists Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, Kurt Lewin and Kurt Bach in what came to be called as the Westgate studies conducted MIT university in 1950

Propinquity can be more than just physical distance. For example, residents of an apartment building living near a stairway tend to have more friends from other floors than others. Propinquity also applies to Social groups. These could consist of class mates, friendship social circles or even work colleagues, and explains the tendency for teachers to date teachers, members of the police force to date each other and so on.

In 1956 Alan C Kerckhoff conducted a study on residential propinquity, around 70% of the married couples lived within 20 blocks of their partner before marriage. This seems obvious when you think about it. Yet it is something people don’t really think about.

It seems strange to say that just being close to somebody generates attraction, yet if you notice the amount of IOI’s you get if you see a girl every morning on the same train, or from someone who lives in the apartment block opposite you. You will almost always begin to say hello every day. Obviously this isn’t the be all and end all, however it is the start. Social proof enables us to generate this regularly creating this initial spark whenever we vybe with a room showing that the room is our social circle and that they are part of it.

It is powerful because it is a passive form of game, When run correctly it enables you to get opened. My wing and best friend Jim Stark used this to close his incredibly hot current girlfriend who is a slim blonde model type and at least 6 inches taller than Jim. She actually asked him on the night.

“Who are you? Why does everyone seem to know you?”

The fact that it requires little outer game and instead primarily relies on having fun and possesing a sold Inner game frame to work from, makes it something that people can get to grips with easily without jeapodising their own personality.

It has been the basis of my game since I started in the community and is in my mind the reason I have done as well as I have so quickly. Though I am always looking to make myself better. I have seen past tutors and wings of mine stare at me as with only social proof and a few simple afc lines I have managed to close girls that blew them out previously. Then watched them completely alter their game to focus on Social Proof to amazing effect.

You want the magic pill? It doesn’t exist. Social Proof is the next best thing.