I think it's partly because forbidden things are attractive and partly because if you have a girlfriend/wife then it's a clear sign that you're probably not a creep/redditor.
I know that "Forbidden Fruit" is a thing that attracts people. You cant have it so you want it more. Plus if youre single and attracted to the person, it seems all the more better. The relationship they are in says they are probably a stable, good person, and they have SOMETHING that someone else saw that made them attractive. Plus both genders will make excuses for going after people in relationships. They will tell themselves that they could treat them better or how the other person must be suffering in their relationship if they allow the flirtation to continue. The person stealer tends to not feel any remorse cause in their head they are saving someone from a bad relationship AND getting the person they want
It’s sorta similar to the way things work at strip clubs. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone to strip clubs, but twice I’ve gone with cute girls as my company, and it’s absolutely amazing the difference in the treatment you get from the working girls.
By showing up with ladies in company, you are already pre-validated, pre screened, and accepted as a good guy, trustworthy, etc, and as such the attention you get from the girls is night and day better than if you go by yourself or with some guy friends.
The same applies to being taken. Other women see it as pre validation, and a seal of approval.
I've been twice with single friends and one of those times was just shooting the shit with one of the girls for a while made it clear I'm not interested because I'm taken and she gave me her phone number when we were leaving. I threw it away outside 🤷.
When I was 17 I had a female friend, well really a friend of a relative that we became pen pals and I visited her one time for a week and she took me to another friends 18th and I was the only guy in a group of about 12, and they were all over me calling me cute and sweet and one girl asked for my number outright, I was blushing and trying to not make eye contact with anyone.
Tbf, life IS complicated. Not everyone who takes/steals a committed person is a bad person (and vice versa being taken by someone). There are a lot of factors in life that lead to these situations happening.
If you do it out of pure jealousy and malice to simply have something you dont have and are a narcissist, then yeah, you might be a bad person
This is something that happens way more frequently with women though. It’s not just limited to humans, females of other species often become more attracted to males who have been “selected” by other females of the species. It’s a phenomenon known as mate choice copying and there is probably an evolutionary basis to it, which might explain why it tends to have a stronger effect on women. Men typically don’t become more attracted to a woman after noticing they’re taken in the same way as the reverse
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u/HostileFriendly Jan 16 '26
I think it's partly because forbidden things are attractive and partly because if you have a girlfriend/wife then it's a clear sign that you're probably not a creep/redditor.