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Game Theory in Dating

Not all games have rules, scores and a defined winner. Some games involve happiness, Valentine’s gifts and heartbreak. While most people consider dating to be a very simple part of life that doesn’t involve many complex decisions, it is actually a very sophisticated series of “moves” made by two or more players when viewed through the lens of game theory. As stated in the article, relationships are chock full of varying probabilities and different choices as the relationships progress over time, with each player trying their best to not have their hearts broken in the end.

To explain this idea better, I will describe a scenario of a relationship with game theoretical decisions to be made. Let’s say there is a crumbling relationship between A and B. A really loves B and does not want the relationship to end, but B is considering cheating on A with another person C, to fulfill their needs (B does not have the guts to break up with A, but the current relationship is not satisfying anymore). They each have a decision to make: stay in the relationship, or cheat. The decision matrix is as follows:

B    Stay               Cheat

A  Stay               10,4                0,6

Cheat               0,0                  2,10

Since A really loves B and wants to keep the relationship going, [Stay,Stay] is optimal for A, but not so optimal for B, since B is not satisfied in the relationship (and A cheating while B stays is the worst case scenario for both). The dominant strategy for B is to cheat, since utility is higher no matter what A chooses. If both players are perfectly rational, then A will see this dominant strategy and note that it is better to cheat than to stay knowing that B is going to cheat (utility of 2>0), so both players will eventually cheat and the relationship will end. The moral of the story is if there is any doubt in a relationship from either partner, it is best to immediately end it before things get worse and hearts become shattered.

http://psychgames.weebly.com/in-relationships.html

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