Why Flirting at Work is a Good Idea

Flirting never hurt anyone – at least that’s what most people say.

A new study suggests that it may even help a woman to get ahead at work. Researchers from the University of California Berkley found that flirtation signals from woman signal attractive qualities, the same ones that many employers consider to be crucial to being promoted.

“Women are uniquely confronted with a trade-off in terms of being perceived as strong versus warm,” Kray said. “Using feminine charm in negotiation is a technique that combines both.”

Researchers asked both men and woman how much they use social charm in negotiations and found that women who said they used more social charm were rated more effective by their partners. The men who used social charm? They were found to be less successful.

Another study found that male salesman were willing to give more to a flirtatious buyer, and less to a serious negotiator. During the same study, female salesman gave equal discounts to both serious and playful buyers.

“The key is to flirt with your own natural personality in mind, be authentic. Have fun. That will translate into confidence, which is a strong predictor of negotiation performance.”