Women know this is true. Men know it, too, I think, they just don't want to admit it. Now it's supported scientifically. New research out of the University of Michigan suggests that the economic crisis could really be the fault of you horny dogs - so there!
The study sought to determine if men's financial habits, aka overspending and conspicuous consumption, were related to his desire to impress possible mates. They compared data taken from men aged 18-45 about their past, current, and desired future physical encounters with their degree of financial consumption.
"It gives an ultimate explanation for why we feel we have to keep up with the Joneses. Especially for guys, our position in the social hierarchy is based on our resources. Economic success has traditionally been good for men's reproductive success, so men have an incentive to show that they are doing well economically," said lead author Daniel Kruger in a news article.
"In terms of the current mortgage crisis, the findings suggest that one of the reasons why we overextend ourselves is that we're basically in a status race. We have expectations that spiral upward as people make more money and everyone wants to show that they are better than average," he explains.
So, essentially, the male drive to prove he's grade A beef causes him to over-extend his finances and end up fiscally swamped. And the more a guy wants to impress the ladies, the worse his financial planning gets. Men that had slept with and hoped to bed more women in the near future had the riskiest financial strategies.
Of course, I won't say women are totally lacking fault in all this. After all, we do encourage the behavior by fawning over expensive gifts or judging a man by his car instead of his brain.
But, guys, it's still your fault - and you have cooties.
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