Pop Psychology: Beyonce's "Single Ladies"

Welcome to the premier of “Pop Psychology” where recess music editor/psychology major Jordan Axt explains our favorite chart toppers through relevant psychological research.

The first installment belongs to the ubiquitous Beyonce song “Single Ladies.” First, let’s link to the song, in all it’s voluptuous glory. Aside from sparking an international dance craze (the worst outcomes can be seen here or here), Beyonce’s words come with their own psychological verification. Put simply, the science behind “Single Ladies” can be summed up in two words: sexual jealousy. To understand Beyonce's pleas for us men to “put a ring on it” requires a discussion of perhaps the most finely evolved emotion in human history.

Let me explain. In a now classic study by David Buss, Randy Larsen, Drew Westen and Jennifer Semmelroth, male and female participants were asked to read and respond to the following hypothetical situation:

Please think of a serious committed romantic relationship that you have had in the past, that you currently have, or that you would like to have. Imagine that you discover the person with whom you’ve been seriously involved became interested in someone else. What would distress or upset you more?

(A) Imagining your partner forming a deep emotional attachment to that person.

(B) Imagining your partner enjoying passionate sexual intercourse with that other person.

The data revealed that each sex showed very different responses to this question. 60% of men were more distressed by picturing their partners in sexual intercourse with another man, compared to only 20% of women. Women were more unsettled by the idea of their partners developing a personal connection with another female.

Instead of describing her new man’s great personality, Beyonce discusses their corporal relationship (“I’m up on him, he up on me.”) Furthermore, her own complaints about her past relationship have nothing to do with the physical but rather her affective trauma (“I cried my tears, for three good years.”)

As the song progresses, the listener can see how Beyonce continues to only reflect on the physical relationship she has with this new suitor, as if she intuitively knows precisely what will drive her ex wild:

I got gloss on my lips, a man on my hips

Hold me tighter than my Dereon jeans

Acting up, drink in my cup

I could care less what you think.

Somehow, I imagine that the lines “He’s real nice and fun/ Makes lots of witty puns,” wouldn’t be nearly as caustic or trenchant. Beyonce clearly knows her evolutionary psychology.

Finally, as the song closes, we can really see how Beyonce cherishes an emotional commitment more than a physical one. After all, a marriage ring is really a physical representation of affective dedication, a lifelong devotion of love (and resources) to one person. In her final words to her former lover, she sings:

Pull me into your arms

Say I’m the one you own

If you don’t, you’ll be alone

And like a ghost I’ll be gone.

Through Beyonce’s catchy words and some insightful research, we can see how each sex not only wants different things out of a relationship but considers differing forms of infidelity as more severe and damaging. This knowledge will surely come in handy the next time you really want to make your ex squirm. Or maybe that’s just me.