Modern Wisdom

#556 - Rob Henderson - How Men Compete For Status

Nov 24, 2022

Rob Henderson, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and a US Air Force veteran, dives into the fierce dynamics of male competition for status. He shares how men's evaluations of physical ability predict relationship success better than women's views on attractiveness. Henderson also explores the intriguing 'dad bod' phenomenon and why men might bristle at it. He highlights the contrast between male overt aggression and female indirect strategies in competition, and discusses the biological roots of these behaviors, shedding light on our complex social interactions.

01:21:25

Creator website

Episode guests

Rob Henderson

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

I'm Rolling the Dice. Okay. So I Like That.

04:21

The Influence of Status on Romantic Prospects

01:15

The Male Warrior Hypothesis

01:28

The Evolution of Masculinity

02:03

Intro

4min

Navigating the Journey of Doctoral Achievement

2min

Understanding Morality Through Evolutionary Psychology

7min

Dynamics of Intrasexual Competition

18min

The Dynamics of Male Attractiveness and Competition

26min

The Dynamics of Male Status and Attraction

8min

The Male Monkey Dance: Dynamics of Dominance

18min

Cultural Reflections and Upcoming Projects

3min

Rob Henderson is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and a US Air Force Veteran.

Men fight. Sometimes they look silly when they fight. But they also collaborate and team up to take on common enemies. Women fight in very different ways that are less obvious, but no less vicious, and they sometimes try to even scupper their own teammates.

Expect to learn how men's judgements of formidability are better at predicting future sexual partners than women's judgements of attractiveness, why male intrasexual competition is so much more obvious, my theory around why men hate to hear that women like dad bods, why there are rules in a "no rules" street fight, what happens if you get kidnapped by an Amazonian tribe and much more...

Extra Stuff:

Check out Rob's Substack - https://robkhenderson.substack.com/

Follow Rob on Twitter - https://twitter.com/robkhenderson

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

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