heartharmony.com.au

One of my favourite new words is Lekking (thanks Cosmos Magazine for sharing this one). It first came from the Swedish att leka meaning “to play” and originally was used to describe male behaviour when females are around in the animal kingdom.  It can be as simple as peacock displays or as complex as male cichlid fish that build underwater cities in the sand to grab the eye of a passing female cichlids.

But lekking is not just limited to animals. The University of NSW in Sydney showed that human males also form leks – with power-dressing and verbal insults as a way of showing off.

The funniest study was one published in Human Nature that showed men also lek with their mobile phones – they display them in public places (even if they don’t intend to use them). The more men in a group, the more mobile phones were pulled out for display. Women tend to keep them in their handbags and only use them when needed, blokes on the other hand put them on display and then constantly fiddle with them even when not in use (read a full version of the article reported in the NY Times here).

As I read about this study in an airport during peak early morning business meeting transit time I of course looked around … and lo and behold – males with their mobiles out on display as far as the eye could see. Take a look for yourself  in the next group of blokes if you don’t believe me – check out how many of them display their mobiles – it is lekking in action.

So two things stood out for me – first lekking is just a darn good word and we need to use it more. And second – how little gadgets can quickly become adopted to satisfy our core animal instincts. Wonder if the mobile phone companies will consciously adapt their newest lines to make them more obvious?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Writer