ABSTRACT
As researchers, we have both examined interpersonal processes because we are fascinated by the basic questions about how people meet and form romantic relationships. For example, “Why do males so often take the initiative in locating and courting mates, and why do females so often reject their suitors?” “Why do males so often fight with one another over females?” “Why do females so often seem to prefer males that have bizarre ornaments and strange behavioral displays?” Bizarre ornaments and strange behavioral displays? Actually, these questions are not ours; they were written by John Alcock (1993,p. 394), an ethologist who studies animal behavior, and he was referring more to peacock plumes and strutting baboons than to human behavior. However, we have asked the same questions about flirting and rejecting in our own species and have, quite frankly, always been a bit mystified by the appeal of puka beads in the 1970s or the body piercings on our students today.
