I was really looking forward to writing this article on the psychology of players and womanizers.
As you know, I love psychology and I like to use science for all the articles on this website.
I also have a bit of a history as a player, which makes for the perfect combination to write this article.
By the end of this article, you will understand the psychology of players, what types of players are out there, and what drives and motivates them.
Contents
Overview
Evolutionary psychology (Wright, 1994; Dawkins, 1976) sees animals as maximizers of genes’ reproduction possibilities.
In humans, around the middle of the male parental investment, maximizing the chances of reproduction comes in two forms:
- Find (easy) women to impregnate and abandon
- Get serious with a high-quality woman and grow children with her
However, these are not two antithetical and separate strategies.
Both tendencies, in varying amounts, are present in all men (and, in smaller quantity, in all women, too).
That means that most guys, even in a relationship, will have an instinctual drive to look for other women to have sex with (read more on why people cheat).
Especially if those other women are attractive and seemingly easy.
But the opposite is also true.
Most philanders will somewhat long for a more serious relationship.
Many players indeed have a tendency to stick to some women they cross path with.
The player/relationship guy is a continuum and few, if any, are 100% either of them.
That being said, it’s not true that “all men are the same”.
Albeit there’s almost always some element of both player and relationship-seeker in the same man, some men tend to be (far) more on the right or (far) more on the left.
Relationship guys tend to provide and invest for their women, and they place a higher value on non-physical attributes that players do (ie.: personality, intelligence, see Regan, 2000).
While players tend to prefer youth and looks and, on average, provide less.
What players promise is an adventure, a whirlwind of romance and, possibly, great sex.
For a more in-depth analysis and examples see:
This post will provide you now with the archetypes of players:
#1. Slaves to Love Womanizer
I have loved women even to madness..
The above is a quote from the most famous womanizer of all.
And the best of all to epitomize the type of player with a boundless love for women: Giacomo Casanova.
And I absolutely love that quote.
It’s a myth that all players are manipulative and deceptive, or that they only play games with women, and it’s also not true that all players “only want to fu*k women”.
Casanova type of players will really love you.
And love you deeply and passionately. But the problem for some of those women is that “women” is plural. Indeed the next part of Casanovas’s quote is
“.. But I loved freedom above all”.
Casanova types of lovers will remember you forever, think of you fondly, or even get heartbroken when they depart… But they do depart.
These types of players love the feeling of romance.
And the goodbye is often part of the romance. There is a bitter-sweet, poetic touch in goodbyes.
I know it will sound nonsense to some of you, but some of my favorite moments of a sexual encounter are walking her back.
And some of my sweetest memories are farewells to lovers who moved away (or stayed when I moved away).
To you, it means you must watch out.
The Casanova type of player is the kind of player who is most likely to break your heart.
He will enter into your life with a whirlwind of romance and passion, something you’ve probably never experienced before.
And it will be amazing… Until he needs to go for another romance.
Do They Stop?
Rarely.
This is the archetype of the “ever-moving womanizer”.
They will always keep an eye open for other women. And if Casanovas stop, they often won’t be truly happy -and will possibly cheat-.
#2. The Artistic-Soul Womanizer
Life is short, might as well enjoy it
The artistic types love art and beauty.
And women are part of that art and beauty.
Many of them have a touch of madness and irrationality.
This is an example of a boy who’s too much at the mercy of his own emotions to fully cater -or be swayed- by her.
Which is attractive.
And some even have a mean streak, which is a potent seductive trait for low self-esteem women and women with masochistic tendencies.
Some are milder, with a brooding personality or a light sadness about them, a veil of depression, a need to be taken care of -which women love to provide-.
Think of Kurt Cobain, playing “Nevermind” unplugged, lost in his music and with a touch of lonesome sadness.
The most powerful artistic players are more direct and active though.
This is an example from the movie “Vicky Christina Barcelona”:
Do They Stop?
They might, but that might also mean that as they get tamed, they also lose their best artistic talent.
#3. Opportunistic Womanizer
I’m popular, might as well take advantage of it..
Remember we said there is a player in most men?
But in some men, that player needs to be awakened through easy options and opportunities.
Enter the opportunity players.
The opportunity players are not truly players at heart.
Instead of them shaping their lives into a womanizer’s life, their lives shape them into a player.
These are men who might become wealthy and powerful, or famous, or mature to be highly attractive men.
They have many women vying for their manhood and… They simply take advantage of that.
Many men in college -at least the attractive ones- are a type of opportunity players as the environment tend to be more libertine (at least for the top men).
#3.2. Pig Players
The “pig players”, a subset of “opportunity players” who abuse their position of power to get sex in exchange for preferential treatment.
Weinstein was such an example.
A true shame for the category.
Do They Stop?
These are “womanizers by opportunity”, and once they get their fill -or once opportunities dwindle-, they stop, yes.
And if they’re the type of men who want a family, they will stop for sure.
Just make sure they’ve had enough playing time though, and if you can somewhat restrict their options, that won’t hurt either.
#4. Infatuation Womanizer
Short bursts of relationships
These guys are not notch collectors, but more relationship guys.
We could even argue if they are real players since they tend to stick with one girl.. At least as long as they’re together.
And that’s the whole point.
These guys are enamored with the infatuation period of love, lasting a max of around 2 years.
After that, they’re onto the next relationship.
Example?
George Clooney.
Do They Stop?
Yes, they can stop.
It will take an amazing woman, as Clooney said… And some years of playtime.
Then, after they’ve strung a few, they will be looking for a woman they can really get along well with and stop.
#5. Thrill Seeking Womanizer
Life Is a String of Adventures
These guys are adventurers at heart.
They don’t put women first like the Casanovas.
Women are part of the thrill, but they don’t sweat it too much if their thrills come from something different and they don’t get too hooked on women when they get them.
They tend indeed to move to the next thrill, whether it’s a girl or not and whether the girl moves with them or not.
Do They Stop?
Yes, they can.
There are three options:
- A stable woman between thrills
- A woman who goes on adventures with them
- When there are no thrills left or they’ve had their fills
Note that option two can be a bit unstable.
Women tend to reach a point in life when they prefer to settle down. If the man doesn’t reach that point at the same time, it could create an issue.
#6. Charmer Womanizer
What’s Life Without a Flirt
Some players enjoy the social power of their charm almost as much as they enjoy women.
They are indeed social charmers first and foremost (check The Art of Seduction), and see women as one of the great pleasures of life.
Jack Nicholson is a good example of this category.
Notice how he relishes his power on her, and see how affable he is with the interviewer
Do They Stop?
Most of these guys do build families, but some fail to adapt to the committed life.
They keep paying flirty compliments to the waitress and throwing sensual smirks at the clerks. Maybe with their wives on their side.
Quite disrespectful and childish, we could argue.
#7. Bigger Pursuit Womanizer
A pleasurable break from my other pursuit
This is the James Bond type of players.
But, as much as they might seem on the opposite spectrum to the superficial observer, also Einstein-types.
This type of player likes women of course, but he has bigger goals and drives in his life and can’t commit.
He’s a bit like the Casanova type, but not as emotionally dangerous.
And he is a bit like the thrill seeker, but he tends to stick to one single pursuit.
While Casanova lives for women and romance and falls in love passionately, James Bond has a bigger loyalty to his mission.
Which is also part of his allure.
See an example from James Bond, when his bigger pursuit came up:
P.S.: all players will enjoy the line “I’ll be back”. Players like players’ characters.
Do They Stop?
Yes, they can stop.
That happens when their main hustle becomes not so important anymore. It shouldn’t just be their main hustle that ends though, but their drive behind the hustle as well, or they might look into something else.
This might happen if they:
- Achieve their goal
- Reach a comfortable enough position they’re happy with
- Change mindset
- With a certain age the urge for family gets bigger than their goal
- The woman becomes part of the hustle (ie.: business partner)
#8. Validation-Seeking Womanizer
Whose hole is he filling?
I like keeping it classy, but I couldn’t think of a better pun.
Howes talks about these types of men in his last book.
Validation players seek to sleep and get on with women to get the validation they crave -both by themselves, for their own self-esteem, and from others, for social status-.
Example of a text I received with a humblebrag:
Him: I gotta go underground, I keep getting caught (attaches a snapshot of a woman saying they saw him with other women)
Me: (validates him, then attaches his own screenshot to further vibe)
These types of players have a hole to fill, and they think sleeping with women will help them fill that hole -while making them look cool-.
So they brag about it.
It’s the guys who brag (lie) about sleeping with thousand women.
Or the Cassanos, Italian football player who laughs talking about his escapades and literally breaking beds (he says, at least, link is in Italian).
Do they Stop?
Yes.
Some lose their drive eventually and settle down.
Some others slow down once they feel they have slept with enough women, and then they are “free” to move on to other life pursuits.
The real question though is if they’re good men to stop with.
If their only drive was the validation through women, they might not have much going in their lives.
And that makes them rather low-quality men.
The exceptions are men who reach through maturity and wisdom with age though, as they become completely different men and, often, true high-quality men.
For more on dating and intersexual exceptions, see:
#9. Addicts Womanizer
Sex addicts need women to appease their urges, whether they seduce them or pay them.
But this category also often mixes sex addicts with substance addicts, in which case it makes these men very low quality partners.
Charlie Sheen, whom allegedly spent millions hiring prostitutes, is an example.
Do They Stop?
Yes, once they get completely clean.
When that happens, the woman can actually come to replace the drugs and the crazy life. If that’s the case he will love you above everything else. The woman, in those cases, also comes to be his conduit to sanity and “clean” life.
And if she leaves them, they might go straight back into drugs.
These relationships are perfect for alpha-females who come to control them and keep them in check.
They become sort of a co-dependent relationship, albeit the “healthy” type of co-dependent :).
Be ready to bounce if they relapse, though: it’s a slippery slope from there and you don’t want to be dragged down.
#10. Predatory Womanizers
Gold diggers are more frequently women, but that doesn’t mean that no man seeks relationships as a mean to an end
As a matter of fact, as society moves more and more towards equality, women also become more and more of a target for their possessions, power, connections, and money.
And, potentially, also the target for psychopaths (see Hare, 1993)
They don’t usually make for great partners as they can be very materialistic, self-centered and emotionally vacuous.
And they often have little skills to live on their terms.
That means they become fully dependant on her, which in the long run often turns out to be a turn off for her.
The movie “Spread” is all about a predatory player (the gold-digger type):
There are slightly different kinds of predatory players:
- Power-hungry (seeks satisfaction through control)
- Gold-diggers (high-quality gold diggers, seeks money)
- Desperate (low-quality gold diggers, seeks shelter)
- Narcissist (seeks validation via a trophy partner)
Of course, there is often a comorbidity of traits and they overlap.
These are the worst types of players: avoid at all costs.
Womanizers Summary
“Womanizer” is the end result of chasing and/or sleeping with lots of women.
But the true causes of what brings a man to be a womanizer differ, and they make all the difference in the makeup of that man personality and overall value.
This article helped you better understand who womanizers are.
And you can practically apply this knowledge to become a better dater, too.
Also read:
- Types of male seducers: if you’re a man looking for information on how to present yourself, this is your article
- 7 signs of a fuckboy
- How to spot a player
