Female Courtship Strategies | Page 6

l d isc lo su re in crea se s as the cou ple p ro g re ss th ro u gh th is s eque nce of
n o nve rba l b e ha vio rs . M cC orm ick & Jon es (19 89 ) co nfir m ed Perpe r's fin ding s tha t th e fe m ale is
v e ry activ e ea rly in the cou rts h ip se que nce , using e ye co n ta ct, sm ile s, brie f t ou ch es and
g roo min g be ha vio rs to sig na l i nte re st in the male .
P erp er de scribe s tw o pro ce ss es tha t a re cru cia l to the con tin ua tio n of t he co u rts h ip seq uen ce :
e sc ala tio n and re spo nse . E sc ala tio n re fe rs to an o ve rtu re th at w ould , if acc ep ted , ra is e th e
l e ve l o f e m otio na l o r ph ysic a l i ntim acy be tw ee n th e tw o pe op le . E sc ala tio n po in ts occ ur w hen
a p pro a ch , ta lk in g, t urn ing , o r to u ch in g must be re cip ro ca te d by th e partne r. A t t he se e scala tio n
p o in ts th e partne r's beh avio r is c ru cia l a nd d ete rm ine s whe th e r th e in te ra ctio n will co ntin ue .
T he su cc ess fu l cou rts h ip pro ce ss move s th rou gh a se rie s of ob se rv a ble esc ala tio n poin ts at
w hic h an ove rtu re is m ade , acc ep ted an d re cip ro ca te d. If t he pa rtn e r doe s no t re spo nd
r e cip ro ca lly at t hese esca la tio n poin ts , the in te ra ctio n wil l p rob ab ly fa il. B oth phys ic a l a nd
v e rba l re cip ro cit y de ve lop a s th e co u rts h ip seq uen ce pro gre ss es. B y th e tim e the cou ple has
a ch ie ve d fu ll bo dy sy nch ro n iz a tio n th e y are pro bab ly expe rie ncin g so m e ty p e of phys io log ic a l
a rou sa l.
T he
priva te ph ase of cou rts h ip
be gin s when th e co up le are a lon e. S in ce it is no t fea sib le to
o b se rv e peop le du rin g th e priv a te pha se o f co u rts h ip , re se arc h has fo cu se d on ask in g peop le
w ha t the y do du ring th is pha se (M cC orm ick , 1979 ; P erp e r & Weiss , 19 87 ). P artic ip an ts fr o m
C ana da and th e US co m ple te d tw o ess