Shit test
A shit test, or confidence test, is a term used among PUAs to designate when, during courtship, a femoid sneakily tests a man to find out whether he is an alpha Chad or beta wimp, or to test his aptitude in any skill. Men engaging in banter or light-hearted insults toward each other is also commonly claimed to be a form of shit-testing. Thus, shit-tests are argued to represent an integral component of how neurotypical people jockey for status in the dominance hierarchy.
The general idea is that a woman that is sexually interested in a man will tend to test his confidence, positive self-image and "frame control" by intentionally behaving in a hostile or provocative manner towards him to see how he will react to this "test."
Proponents of shit-test theory will argue that if a man acts in a way that displays "high value," generally dismissively or contemptuously, he will "pass" this test. Proponents also argue that the woman will consequently be more attracted to him.
Some PUAs argue that "negging", or backhanded compliments directed at a woman in an attempt to lower her self-esteem and thus her self-perceived social value relative to the PUA, ergo making her more attracted to him, represent a form of shit test that a man can deploy during courtship to shift the odds in his favor.
Critics of PUA techniques, such as advocates of the blackpill, tend to argue that whether a woman is attracted to a man or not depends more on his objective sexual market value than how he responds to a woman's provocative behavior, and that women will tend to be submissive and polite, and not rude or destabilizing, towards men they are truly attracted to.
Research does tend to suggest that teasing a man is a surprisingly common way a woman displays sexual interest[1] though as banter is a common component of social interaction it can be hard to tell whether how a man reacts to this "testing" is a major determinate of further attaction to him. It does seem that, in social interactions in general, verbal insults play a large role in negotiating peer status. These kinds of insults or "tests" are also not necessarily malicious in intent, with such repartee being commonly associated with greater social inclusion and cohesion, depending on context.[2]
Kinds of shit-tests[edit | edit source]
Some have attempted to divide shit-tests into multiple categories. These include:
- Dominance tests. Shit-tests where one party in a social interaction attempts to probe how mentally resilient the other one is. Typically, they insult the other's masculinity (if they are a man) or toughness, i.e. calling someone a wimp, cuck, pussy, faggot etc. One supposedly generally passes this test by convicingly displaying toughness and high self-regard.
- Compliance tests. Shit-tests where someone attempts to test how agreeable and submissive a person is, generally in the view of seeing if they are someone they can walk over and manipulate. A good example would be when women request men run errands for them or perform menial tasks. One supposedly generally passes this test by refusing dismissively.
- A fitness test is said to generally take the form of banter, so light-hearted insults or teasing intended to ascertain one's level of social awareness and general social skills. To "succeed" at this shit-test one needs to endure this verbal aggression and retaliate in a manner that puts the testers ego in check and diffuses the situation, preventing it from escalating into a shouting match or an open display of violence.[3]