Not all dating advice is created equal. These articles examine popular guidance from relationship coaches, influencers, and self-help authors—separating evolutionary insight from pseudoscience and marketing.
What bowerbirds, a 1920 love manual, and brutal modern advice reveal about trust A 1920 dating manual, a book about animals having sex in a zoo, and a profane modern self-help book walk into a library, and somehow all say similar things about why dating feels so broken today. That’s…
From ancient Rome to the pickup artist era—a curated list with commentary from my research into the evolution of dating advice Essential dating books Some dating books sell millions of copies and vanish without a trace. Others reshape how an entire generation approaches romance. After a decade spent building an…
Overcoming early wounds to build lasting, secure relationships In 2022, a viral TikTok trend called “traumacore” saw millions of young adults creating videos that aestheticized their childhood wounds—absent fathers, emotionally unavailable mothers, households of chaos—set to melancholic music and vintage filters. The comments overflowed with variations of “this is literally…
Unpacking the Gold Digger from Betty Van Deventer to 90 Day Fiancé The “gold digger” remains a potent cultural archetype—a figure, often a woman, who leverages charm, romance, or seduction to secure material advantages from a partner. This image gained traction in the early 20th century amid economic shifts and…
Note: This piece was originally written around 2015, during the peak of the dating TV show and the rise of relationship-focused formats like The Bachelor. A decade later, the genre has only grown more dominant—migrating heavily to streaming platforms, going global with international versions, and experimenting with new twists like…
This insight comes from my book Costly Signals: The Evolution of Dating Advice, where I dive deeper into how evolutionary principles can transform modern dating. The problem isn’t authenticity. It’s legibility. “Just be yourself.” It’s the most common dating advice out there, and it’s almost completely useless. Not because authenticity…
Long before dating apps and “situationships,” these authors saw exactly where we were headed. We talk about loneliness as if it’s new—a product of smartphones and pandemic isolation. But authors who studied American relationships over the past seventy years saw it coming, identifying the forces that would make genuine connection…
A few years ago, the internet erupted with laughter over a 1958 McCall’s magazine article titled “129 Ways to Get a Husband.” Sparked by a Wisconsin woman’s Facebook post of her rummage-sale find, the list quickly went viral on platforms like Bored Panda, Psychology Today, and Reddit. Articles lampooned its…
Myanmar matches with the new swipe culture 36-year-old Sandar Win chats with her two friends at Amazon Coffee, distracting herself with a smartphone in one hand. She smiles and flashes them a picture of a man called “Simon,” who’s 41 and is sitting on the back of a jet ski.…
Author of Costly Signals: The Evolution of Dating Advice. PhD researcher with 500+ dating guides from the 1800s to today. Why do we take romantic advice from strangers? I have answers.
Whether you’re a journalist, podcaster, or an event organizer, I’d love to hear from you. I speak on modern dating, evolutionary psychology, and a surprising history of dating advice.
© 2026, Andrew King