Blog Post 9: Barney's "Crazy-Hot Scale"

Based on what I've read Physical Attractiveness Stereotype or the "Crazy-Hot Scale" of Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother is a term that psychologists use to refer to the tendency to assume that people who physically attractive also possess other socially desirable personality traits. And stereotyping is the process by which we draw inferences about others based on knowledge of categories which they belong.

What attracts people to each other ?

Are there universal standards for physical attraction?

The first article that I've read is about Physical Attraction Psychology by M.Farouk Radwan, MSc. This article states that there are certain features that are considered universally attractive by most people still each and every person perceive beauty according to his own desires.  What features do most people consider attractive ?  First is waist to hip ratio, even if you deny it I think most of us are more attracted to women with an hour glass body shape. Second is Symmetry, it was found that symmetrical faces are considered more attractive than non symmetrical faces across all cultures. Third is Health, Researches has shown that the more healthy the person is the better his looks will be and the more attractive he will appear to be. Fourth is the Height, Many studies revealed that the majority of women prefer to date men who are taller than them but according to psychology beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that's why you might find many women dating shorter men. Fifth are Feminine facial features: Men prefer women who have feminine facial features over other women. Women on the other hand prefer men with feminine facial features when they are not fertile and prefer men who have more masculine features when they are fertile. Sixth is well built, women prefer well built men (not necessary body builders). Women prefer men who have wider shoulders and narrow waists with minimal belly fat. And lastly jaws and cheek bones, women prefer men who have relatively bigger jaws and more prominent cheek bones since they both give a more masculine look to the man. 

This article clearly discussed some features what attracts to men and women. And as for Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother what attracts him the most are the waist to hip ratio because he always says “God Forbid that she’s FAT”.. And well built, Barney always looks for better featured woman even though he already has one.

Another article that I’ve read is The Attractiveness Stereotype and Barney’s“Crazy-Hot” Scale by Dr. Sadie Leder. This article claims that Beautiful people are believed to be better on a number of points of view and are thus treated accordingly. For most of us, this happens outside of our awareness and interestingly, even young children show these preferences and biases. Like it or not, one of the most influential factors in romantic attraction is physical attractiveness. That’s right, hotness! Psychologists’ refer to this beauty bias as the “attractiveness stereotype,” and for decades they’ve shown that people have a tendency to assume that those who are physically attractive are not only desirable because they’re hot, but also because they are believed to possess a number of other socially desirable traits.

 In one of the episodes of How I Met Your Mother Barney explains his “crazy-hot” scale, whereby a man tolerates a woman’s craziness only to the extent that it is offset by an equal level of attractiveness. In a very matter of fact fashion, he recounts to his friends his past dating conquests, explaining that moderately hot women were allowed to be only moderately crazy, whereas very hot partners were granted excessive toleration for their craziness. Although his friends may not endorse his self proclaimed theories, Barney referred to Ted and his current girlfriend (referred to only as “Blah Blah”) is a perfect example of not only Barney’s point or this article.

Blog Post 8: Barney Stinson's "The Mermaid Theory"

Based on what I've read the "Mere Exposure" effect or "The Mermaid Theory" as Barney named it in How I Met Your Mother, it is a phenomenon in psychology where people tend to choose someone over the other that appears to be more familiar to them.  The more the often you see someone the pleasant or trustworthy it will appear to the you.

But in How I Met Your Mother, Barney explained it to Marshall like this. For example you and your bro are stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and then both of you tend to capture a mermaid. At first you don't like the mermaid because of its physical appearance but then as time goes by the more you see that mermaid the more you are attracted to it.

The first article that I've read about the "Mere Exposure" or "The Mermaid Theory" is the How I Met Your Mother: Mere Exposure and the "Mermaid Theory" by Dr. Dylan Selterman. It says that psychologists discovered that simply being close in physical proximity to another person increases liking and attractiveness for that person. An example of which are those college students that uses COED dorms or in the school classroom or in a school department, they tend to like familiar person that they can see regularly than those people that are mere strangers to them even without actual confrontation or communication with one another. Scientist call these the "Mere Exposure" effect. The more time spent together or near someone, the more people feel that they know or trust that person more and feel comfortable being around him/her. This feeling of familiarity contributes to attraction.

I would relate it to the unusual relationship with Ted and Zoey. Despite their initial hatred feelings for each other.(its because Zoey tried to sabotage Ted's dream job) and despite the fact Zoey was married to the Captain, the two of them eventually came to a conclusion and express their feelings of love that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Maybe because of their time spent together as friends led to increased the attraction and intimacy to one another despite of all the hatred each of one does to each other. Although we are likely to feel attracted to people we regularly see, scientists have yet to determine whether relationships based on proximity are likely to be successful or lasting. Mere exposure may turn people from friends into lovers (like Ted and Zoey) but will they live happily ever after ?

The Second article that I've read is about Mere Exposure Effect Psychology by M.Farouk Radwan, MSc. It states that according to psychology the more we get to exposed to someone or something the more we tend to like it. The mere exposure effect is applicable for both people and objects. If you saw an object many times or a picture of it you will think that it will be more likable than the other object or picture that you didn't see that much. When you see a person more often you think that he/she is more likable than a stranger that you just saw or someone you see less often. And the reason why we find people we see often or regularly more attractive is that familiarity creates likability. According to the mere exposure effect theory people who see you often will think that you are more attractive than the people they don't encounter often. And most people fall in love with someone they see often and certainly the main reason behind that is the mere exposure effect. For example Advertisers are aware of this facts and that's why they depend on the psychology of the mere exposure effect to make you like their product even more. Advertisers display their ads every now and then in order to make you become more familiar with their products and as you become familiar with the product you tend to like it. People are more likely to try something they are familiar with than taking the risk of trying something they know nothing about. It feels more comfortable to go for a well known brand then to buy something that is unfamiliar.

According to Barney In How I Met Your Mother, men will eventually feel sexually attracted to women simply as a result of spending time with them, even if they initially don’t find these women attractive at all. Even the least physically attractive people ("manatees") will eventually look like mermaids. Also Barney predicted that Marshall will one day feel attracted to his female secretary simply because she works in his office even his secretary is unattractive, and that's the main reason why Marshall doesn't want to hangout with Robin even though they are close friends. He is worried that someday he will be attracted to Robin  simply because they hang out a lot.

Blog Post 7: Barney Stinson's Platinum Rule

The Golden Rule says that you should "Love your Neighbor as you Love yourself" but in How I Met Your Mother there is a higher rule than the golden rule made by Barney Stinson and it is the Platinum Rule. It says that "Never ever ever ever love your neighbors and he means ( friends, co-workers, neighbors and any other that you can see often).  Platinum Rule aside there's actually no rule about to date or not to date your co-worker unless its in the company policy.

As I was browsing the internet I've read this article about Why You Shouldn't Hit On Your Neighbor by Chris Illuminati. This article discusses why you shouldn't hit on your neighbor in two different scenarios. One scenario is what if she rejects you ? First is "Every Encounter thereafter will be awkward", suppose you are reading his/her signals wrong  maybe he/she’s just being nice because you share the same sidewalks. You ask him/her out, he/she says no and now you have to deal with the uncomfortable exchanges every time you run into each. Second is "You will have made a bad first impression" if you hit on your neighbor or any other neighbors only after meeting them and got rejected there will be gossips that would fly around the entire neighborhood, do you really want to be known as the neighborhood gigolo only after a few weeks ? Other scenario is if she accepts you... First is he/she will move in right away. Well in every relationship things go well at first, time goes by and the next you know, he/she is squatting in your house. This will put an instant stain on the relationship. Because there is no transition period or getting to know each other while still being able to retreat to separate quarters. Second is when you break up, you'll still live together.  A bad scenario could be that you get her out of the house but she isn't out of your life. She still owns a place in the neighborhood. A terrible scenario could be that she already sold her place and now you have to wait for her to find a new place to live. The good news is that it won’t be in the neighborhood but the bad news is it could take longer than expected. It could be weeks or possibly living under the same roof.
This article defined why the gang forbid Barney for dating Wendy the waitress because they somehow might lose the bar that they want. But Barney insisted because he thinks that it would be convenient to date a waitress, its a free beer every time. We all know Barney, eventually he doesn't want to be in a relationship yet Wendy is hooked to Barney. That's why every single time Barney go to the bar there would be an awkward feeling that Wendy might sabotage his and his friends food. 

Second article that I've encountered is about The 10 People You Should Never Date by Suzie Robb. This article enumerates 10 people that we shouldn't date, but I would only pick some. First is the "Family Friend" your families will constantly meddling and you'll always sort of feel like dating your cousin.Second is "A Co worker" You’ll see each other for 40 hours per week at work and if it doesn't work out, every second of which will be horribly awkward. Third is "Your Personal Trainer" You are paying your trainer to get you into shape so that you can feel better about yourself, meet new people, and look better than others. Yes, spending two-three hours together per week could translate into a friendship and possibly dating. Date your trainer at your own risk and canceling gym routines can be a pain in the ass and you’ll likely never find another trainer that can take to 150lb to 100lb in two weeks. Fourth is "Your Ex" So, you run into an ex at a party. You both look great. You’re both single. You have a couple drinks and the familiarity comes rushing back to you. Same jokes. Same chemistry. Same horrible reasons why you broke up. If it didn't work out the first time,surely it won’t work out the second time. Fifth is "Your Roommate" it is a waste if you paid in the rent in advance and its non refundable because its hard to live with your roommate if your roommate is your ex. And lastly is "Your Neighbor" Sure, you don’t live together, it’s not nearly as bad. However, you will still see this person every morning. 

Bro Code:Article 83:A Bro shall, at all cost, honor the Platinum Rule

These two articles is a proof that Barney Stinson's Platinum Rule is true. The Platinum Rule say that "Never, ever, ever, ever, love thy neighbor". It seems that Barney thinks that loving your neighbors is a way to great chaos. His point is one should never date some that is seen or confront with everyday, like: Neighbors, Roommates, Colleagues, Co workers and many others.. because such relationship never work out in the end and just lead to never ending awkwardness to those persons who are involved. Also Barney mentioned that eventually you will have to go through eight steps. First step is the "Attraction" this is the sign of the first rule. It is when you get too attached to a person. Second is the "Bargaining" its the time when you're looking for a reason why both of you are perfect for each other. Third is the "Submission" its the feeling when both of you feels the same for each other. Fourth is the "Perks" it would look like both parties are happy for each other. But sooner or later there will always be a time that fate will rip both of you apart. Fifth is the "Tipping Point" the time wherein your relationship seems to be tighter until it chokes you, until it hurts one or both of you. Sixth is the "Purgatory" this is where you feel that you need to get out of the relationship. I'ts the time when one of you or both you get irritated but you can't say it directly because you don't want to hurt anyone specially your special someone. Seventh is the "Confrontation" The time you say "we need to talk.." you had enough of the fights, the misunderstandings, the pain. "Its time to end this." one walks away. The other, just stays. Eight is the "Fallout" this is the time when both you tries to be cold or avoid each other awkward silences, everything about him/her just kills you. Sad ending? Not really. There is one rule that will overshadow these feelings, the pain, the awkward silence. everything it is the "Rule of Coexistence" sooner or later you will accept to yourself that its over.You'll realize that those awkward silences will fade. The pain both of you obtained. The feelings will also fade, but it will be replaced with something better..