Ever wondered why the Kardashians are so successful? It may be because momager Kris Jenner flirted her way to the top. A new study done by Laura Kray, a business professor at the University of California Berkley, found that women who flirt are better negotiators than their less charming co-workers because flirting is accompanied by confidence, which is an essential tool for negotiations.
In an experiment, Kray asked subjects to imagine two car sales scenarios: one in which a female buyer shook the seller’s hand, smiled, and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” and another who greeted the seller with a warm smile, looked the seller up and down, touched his arm, and said, “You’re even more charming than over email,” followed by a playful wink.
Funny, we’d always assumed winking connoted a level of creepiness reserved exclusively for smarmy uncles and talent agents.
The research indicated that male sellers were more likely to give $100 off the selling price to the flirt, while the serious woman got jack. Female sellers, however, were all, “IDGAF,” and didn’t negotiate with either of them.
She’s not talking happy endings here. Kray’s research advocates authentic, engaging behavior without serious sexual intent. Kray also gives some Cosmo-esque flirting tips: “The key is to flirt with your own natural personality in mind. Be authentic. Have fun.” Well, manipulating people can be fun, we guess.
But what about those of us who don’t want to shake a car salesman’s clammy hand in the first place? We’ve spent years honing our razor sharp wit so we don’t have to act like sorostitutes, and now it turns out they were right all along. Ugh, those of us with normal ideals are doomed to a world of Kardashians running wild on all of our opportunities. Also, guys, way to suck at standing your ground in negotiations. These are business deals, not scenes out of”Bad Business Girls Take Care of Business 35″ Maybe we’ll just go listen to Ani DiFranco and cry ourselves to sleep.
Related Articles
The F Train: What to do if a willy won’t stay up?
If a penis can’t stay up, do you call it quits?
PDA PSA: Where not to make out in Brooklyn
Want to kiss in public? You probably shouldn’t.
The F Train: Should she stay or should she go now?
Is there ever a right time to settle? TLDR: no.
2 Comments
Leave a Reply
“But what about those of us who don’t want to shake a car salesman’s clammy hand in the first place?” I’m having trouble arousing my quasi-feminist [I’m a dude after-all] ire over this one: Interacting with salespeople in any gender combination is the pits.
sorry, who is buying cars still In This Economy?