The 5 Styles Of Flirting

Physical flirt, playful flirt, sincere flirt... which one are you? 

Finally, psychology is focusing on the important things! Researchers at the University of Kansas have been busy interviewing a ton of people about their flirting styles and their dating histories, and they've managed to pretty much solve some of the mysteries of dating.
Dr. Jeffrey Hall not only identified five main styles of flirting (physical, traditional, polite, sincere and playful), he also matched them up with the kinds of relationships those flirts lead to. And—surprise!—he found no difference between male and female flirters of each style.
• Physical flirts are not afraid to express sexual interest in their targets. These flirters fall headfirst into relationships quickly and have a lot of emotional connection and sexual chemistry. Physical flirters are the Steve Sanders of the dating world.
• Traditional flirts have old-school values. They think that men should pursue women, and male traditional flirters usually get to know a woman as a person before they try to date her. Traditionally flirty women report having a hard time getting men to notice them and are often less flattered by flirting in general
—probably because, by their standards, they can't really flirt. This is a style often used by introverts and Donna Martin. 
• Polite flirts follow all the rules and flirt non-sexually. (What does that even look like?) They are sometimes slow to approach people they are interested in, but once they get into a relationship, those relationships are pretty meaningful. Andrea Zuckerman all the way.
• Sincere flirts want to know how you're doing, really. They have sincere interest in who you are and want to make an emotional connection. This style was only slightly favored by women over men. The relationships of sincere flirts tend to be meaningful and full of emotional oneness. This could be no one but Brandon Walsh. *siiiiigh*
Playful flirts do their thing not as a means to an end, but rather for their own self-esteem. Most playful flirts aren't interested in long-term dating and are less likely to have meaningful relationships, but they probably feel great about themselves. They are fully represented by Kelly Taylor.

There are all kinds of interesting implications here if you are a playful flirt who wants a long-term thing, or if you keep insisting you don't want a relationship while you're sincerely flirting all over the place, and it's a great way to figure out how you're coming across in the dating world. Which comes first: what you want in a relationship, or how you interact with your dating pool? We're not sure, but we'll hold our breath until they come up with a flirting style that fits Dylan McKay.

What about you? Which one of these flirting styles sounds like you, and is this how your relationships are? Hit up the comments. 

Are You Guilty of Flirting While Driving? 

As if road rage and car recalls weren't already annoying enough for drivers, there's another issue facing motorists: flirting behind the wheel.

A new poll of 3,000 drivers has found that distracted drivers, who spend more time hitting on fellow motorists than paying attention to the road, are responsible for 976,000 collisions and over five million "close calls."

You guys! We quote our dads here when we say EYES ON THE ROAD!

Men, at least, are worse than we are, with 46 percent flirting while driving compared to 36 percent of women. While a cute guy may cause a lady driver to smile in his direction, men tend to be more flamboyant when they see an attractive woman at the wheel, waving and loudly honking their horn and let's be honest, probably doing that RRRRM RRRRM thing and flooding the engines of their Geo Prisms.

Scary? Yes. But just tell yourself you're getting honked at because you're hot and not because you're an awful driver.

 

Would You Hit On Your Celebrity Crush?

 

Just imagine -- you're standing on a corner in Midtown and when you look up you notice you're right behind Christina Hendricks. What do you do? Faint? Pee a little bit? Accidentally blurt out, "YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL EYES?"

According to Christina in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, women hit on her all the time. Apparently it surprises her husband how many chicks are trying to get a piece.

We wondered this: Is Christina is some kind of lesbian magnet, or are her beauty and star power so overwhelming that even the straightest of the straight can't help complimenting her on her beautiful, beautiful mouth? (Whoops.) And furthermore, if you ran into your celebrity crush, would you ACTUALLY have the stones to flirt?

We're not sure if we'd be able to keep it cool, or if we'd be desperately trying to figure out a way to get our phone number into Javier Bardem's pants.

Is It Easier to Flirt Via Text?

After studying an interactive Italian real-time music channel, Indiana University researchers found that women flirt more via text message than men. Their messages were longer, used more abbreviations and included more emoticons, so that "I love you! Can't wait to see you tonight," looks like, "I <3 u! Can't W8 2 CU 2nite. ;)."

As sexting veterans, we have to agree. We've definitely been emboldened by electronic communication on more than one occasion. Read some sassy texts we got women to admit to sending.

From Allison: "The blanket u got me isn't enough to keep me warm. The only solution is to actually sleep with u. Can't wait to see u! =)"

From Joy: "I want u! Come over now!"

From Michelle: "Hey babe, can we have some fun? soon?! ;)"

Tell Us: What's the flirtiest text message or IM you've ever sent? 

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