Emily Chan
If you’ve already been on the fence about dating in today’s day and age, you certainly won’t be convinced to jump into the thick of it after hearing about the latest toxic dating tactic.
TikToker Erika Tham (@erikatham) is recalling a conversation she had with a guy friend who described a very disturbing dating technique to her that was similar to love bombing. So far, the video has gained 7.7 million views.
The technique is called the “penny method,” which is used to gradually reduce the amount of effort that is put into a relationship. To explain the penny method, Erika’s friend first told her to compare a girl to a piggy bank.
“In order to get her interested, obviously, at first, you have to be feeding her hundred-dollar bills,” said Erika.
“But putting in hundred-dollar bills is a lot of work, and you don’t always want to be doing that, so eventually, you reduce it to 90.”
The girl will be able to sense the ten percent decrease in effort, but since it’s such a small amount, she will seem crazy if she tries to bring it up. So, of course, she keeps it to herself.
But here’s where the strategy gets even more demented. After she has become accustomed to 90 percent of effort, it’s time to increase it to 95.
Instead of feeling any loss in effort, she will feel like she gained something even though five percent less effort is still being put in.
“Basically, you just keep repeating this cycle and weaning her off your effort until you get to the point where you’re giving her pennies, and suddenly, she’s excited to receive a nickel,” said Erika.
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