Speed Dating: A Psychology Experiment

You show up at the psychology building, walking through the mostly empty corridors. A number of the offices are still lit up, professors and grad students working on projects late into the night, and you eventually find yourself stopping by the large lecture hall where your class takes place, arranged with pairs of chairs around each desk.

“You ready for this?” Vishal asks, a wide grin stretched on his face.

“You have a girlfriend man, why are you even here,” you say.

“It’s free dinner,” he replies, and pushes open the door, heading into the lecture hall.

There are maybe thirty-odd people milling about the room, carrying paper plates with some kind of curry-like foods on it. There are trays of food laid out by the front, as well as some sign-up sheets. You head down with Vishal, pick up some food, and put your name down, recording it on a list and making a small name tag for yourself as instructed. The two of you hang by the side of the room, eating the nosh.

You take in the girls present and are suitably impressed. Vishal points out a busty brunette chatting with somebody at the other end of the room, and girlfriend be damned, starts rating her and the other girls in the room. You dispute a few of his numbers, but it seems that the two of you have pretty similar tastes.

Just then, a well-dressed guy gets up at the front of the room. “Hey everyone, I’m Alexei, and I’ll be running this experiment for Professor Bannerjee today. As you hopefully all know, we’re going to be having a little fun… tonight, it’s speed dating, with a twist! Or maybe not. You’ll never know until the paper’s published, and then you can have a gander and figure out what we did.

“Anyways, how this night will proceed: you’ll be paired with a member of the opposite gender, the two of you will chat and connect and have fun for a couple of minutes, and then I’ll ring the bell here and we’ll repeat the process with someone new. We’re going to do this three times tonight, so stay lively. At the end of the night, you’ll each get a chance to put down the name of one person that you met, and if they happen to put down your name too? We’ll put the two of you in touch. Of course, nothing is stopping you from personally reaching out, but we as psychologists would be very, very angry if you did so. Got it? Yes? Good. Here are the pairings for the first round, find your partner and be happy!”

You look up at the names projected on the screen, and see your name projected to a girl named Avril. Who is that? Your eyes roam the room, trying to read the tiny print on the name-tags pinned to bosoms, and it takes you a minute to finally identify her. Her eyes cross your body a couple times before locking onto yours, and you think that the thoughts running through her head must mirror yours on some level — ”This person is attractive”

Her pretty round face has is framed by her lovely blonde locks, worn down today with just the hint of a curl. She’s wearing a nice-ish white shirt with a black jacket on top, and carries a small handbag with the Zeta letters embroidered on the side.

Avril (left)

The two of you cross the room, meeting at a desk in the middle, and she, reaching it first, pulls out a chair for you.

“What a perfect gentleman,” you say, “I think I like you already.”

“I do try my best,” she says, “but you oughta be ashamed of yourself—letting a girl get one up on you like that.”

“Old habits are hard to break,” you say. “I’ve had a lifetime of practice, my sister sure made sure of that.”

“I believe it. I never let my little brother have anything when he was younger,” she laughs. “But now that he’s twice my size and can bench me in his sleep… yah, I still don’t let him have anything.”

“Big sisters,” you say, rolling your eyes. “Hey wait—you’re in Zeta?” She nods. “You probably know my sister then, Gina?"

“Oh, ‘course I know her,” Avril laughs, her eyes twinkling in the light. “And I should have guessed that you were her little brother. That was dead clear from your description of her. I mean, it’s not even a feminist thing with her—”

“She just won’t put up with that kind of bullshit,” you finish, and she nods.

“You know what I think? I think that Gina would just get embarrassed if she couldn’t put up a coldhearted front to those acts of chivalry. She wouldn’t know what to do!”

“I mean, what are you supposed to do when someone embarrasses you? There’s just no good response.”

“Nah, I’m great with embarrassing situations,” she says, and you shoot her a skeptical look. “I’m serious! What, you don’t believe me?”

You shake your head. “I have never heard of anyone being good in an embarrassing situation. It’s right there in the name! It’s embarrassing! How could it be good?”

“Fine, I’ll show you what I mean,” she says. “Say something embarrassing—like real loud, so that everyone hears, something embarassing.”

“Uh… sure,” you say, learning back in your chair to think. You meet her playful eyes, and then come up with something.