Bethany Winn and Faculty Mentor: Sarah F. Webb-Wood
Introduction
Dating. A topic that is on everyone’s minds here in Provo, Utah. In years past dating has proven to be a difficult subject to approach as it leads to something even more elusive: love. One of the hardest challenges in the dating game is most definitively understanding the male mind. The general population claims men are relatively easy to decipher, as they have “straightforward” thoughts and feelings. However, upon interacting with any given male, one will find that there is no simple formula to understand them. This project will save women everywhere from the heartache that comes with misinterpreting a man’s actions. We hypothesize that there will be no way to understand them, but we need these tests to confirm that. We hope to at least confirm that men have a dualistic nature of being both complicated and simple.
Materials and Methodology
To execute this project we collected a group of 500 men in the BYU Provo area to be a part of this project. We incentivized them with a drawing for a grand date worthy of ABC’s “The Bachelor.” There were two parts to this project. First, we conducted an indepth survey, then an accompanying interview, asking questions about their beliefs, morals, and actions. This process was similar to a crossexamination in the courtroom. (Readers interested in seeing the complete set of interview questions can refer to the published study on National Science Foundation’s official site.) Those men who could “hold their own ground” in this first phase were admitted to the second phase of the project. This is due to the reasoning that if they can conquer the rigorous and complex interviews, then these men are the complicated men that we want to study. In the second phase, we hooked them up to several different machines to study their mind’s response to certain stimuli. These modern tests included CT scans, MRI, PET scans and heart rate monitoring. We measured the men’s brain and heart response to questions similar to those found in the original surveys and interviews. In addition to this, we showed them more varied pictures of different types of women (appropriate in nature) and gave them more dating scenarios to analyze. At the conclusion of the study we randomly awarded an exclusive twoperson, allexpense paid trip to the Bahamas for two weeks to one participant in the study.
Results
In the first phase of the study, only about half (248) men held up through the surveys and interviews. “Holding up” was measured by their composure, levelheaded thinking, and ability to complete the surveys and interviews. We immediately eliminated anyone who broke down crying. This represented 240 men. The remaining 12 men voluntarily opted out of the study in order to prevent a future breakdown. The answers from the 248 men who completed the study were unable to be analyzed without the second portion of the brain tests. The brain scans proved to yield slightly more significant results. Coupled with the written answers from the first survey, we were able to see the beginnings of the male thinking process. Figure 1 shows a more realistic image of the male mind.
We found that the more questions that men were subjected to, the more flustered they got. Flustered emotions were shown through higher heart rates, perspiration, and unclear responses. As the study progressed into the second half of the final stage, generally the men’s answers became less and less coherent, marked by babbling, reversion to infant behavior (thumbsucking, rocking), and nervous laughter. Although it was more difficult to gather data at this stage, once the men crossed the breakdown threshold, we were still able to see that there is a significant and direct relationship between the amount of time a woman is involved with a man and the answers she might expect. This is shown in Figure 2.
Discussion/Conclusion
In conclusion, men as a whole are not meant to be deciphered. We were hopeful in the second stage to find that men can be more complex that they let on. This was shown through their ability to maneuver the purposefully challenging first phase. However, once their psyche deteriorated in the second phase with further tests and interviews, we were both disappointed and not surprised. After being thoroughly tested, the men reverted back to a more simplistic mind. This shows that they can be complicated but have a dualistic simple nature. Even though we were not able to discover exactly what we intended, we are pleased with the confirmation that men are both complicated and simple in nature. This information alone will allow women to be secure in knowing there is no true way to understand men.