Flirtation, Climate and Alcohol: Part 1

Flirtation is a fundamental aspect of human interaction! As much as puritanical cultures like some aspects of ours in Nigeria would deny this, it might be a critical contributing element towards the foundation of civilization. Evolutionary psychologists even argue that the large human brain, our superior intelligence is equivalent to the male peacock’s tail, a courtship device designed to attract sexual partners. Even the rationale behind some of our achievements, ranging from art to engineering, is merely an expression of the desire to charm one another.

Over the recent years, I have made some interesting observations in the social behaviour of people I have interacted with. In the first part of this series, I will share my experiences with Europeans from various countries with whom I spent three months during a course in France:

I found that those from Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Italy and France were the most open, with very high social self-esteem. I had first-hand experience of this behaviour during an evening stroll on the streets of Nice when a young man riding his scooter spotted me, caught my attention and started to follow me. I initially thought that if I ignored him long enough, he would leave, but he didn’t; and to my surprise, he started to sing to me in French. I could not help but blush because until that moment, I had only ever seen such behaviour in movies and did not believe that it would, one day, become my very own reality.

I noticed that the British, were quieter initially, especially during morning classes. But they loosened up after a few beers at evening outings. I perceived the Swedish, however, as a little unfriendly when I first met them; and after interacting with other non-English speakers from the Mediterranean countries, I was sure that this was not solely as a result of a language barrier. In fact, I often found interactions with them during classroom activities a little more challenging than I did with others. However, at a nightclub on a Friday night after a few shots of vodka, they became much more friendlier.

One day, I spoke to a well-travelled teacher about my observations and he gave me some interesting insight on the link between variations in the European climate, alcohol consumption and social skills:

He explained that Mediterraneans might appear to have the highest social self esteem because they experience many months of sunlight and warmth, and therefore spend a great amount of time outdoors, physically interacting with each other.  I also noticed that many of them in my course did not use smart phones such as the blackberry or iPhone, which gave another indication that they rely less on social media and more on face-to-face interactions.

According to him, the British might seem less friendly because they experience much fewer months of warm weather than the Mediterraneans and therefore spend more time indoors. So when in a social environment, they have a little more difficulty interacting with people they are not familiar with, thus requiring a little push. Many then resort to alcohol to increase their social self-esteem. In fact, a Martini Flirting Survey revealed that about 30% of British couples first met their current partner at a pub; essentially a place where alcohol is consumed; and what’s more interesting is that alcohol was voted their most effective aid to flirting.

To address the Swedish, my teacher then asked me if I had noticed that the countries most famous for vodka production, Sweden, Russia and Poland, experience many months of extremely cold weather. Additionally, vodka is consumed dry in these countries, indicating that a purpose for consuming this spirit is simply to “lift one’s spirit”, unlike in countries such as France, where alcohol (wine) is consumed as part of a meal. Aside from Vodka, he pointed out that Sweden is also famous for IKEA, which is famous for its ready-to-assemble household furniture. So, as a joke, he gave a very simple logic that Sweden is so cold that they have IKEA to cater for their indoor comfort and vodka to provide their outdoor social boost.

My observations provide a bit of an insight on how flirtation, climate and alcohol influence social behaviour. How do you think these would impact our behaviour in Nigeria?