Below I"ll discuss the problem of dating and relationships in general, and Aamina"s experience a few pages back highlights these points (which I"ll expound further). But perhaps more importantly, I"ll try to explain why you have to behave as such on a deeper psychological level. And yes, you do have to exhibit egocentric, aloof-like behavior to have success in the dating world for most people in most social situations.
To start, you first have to understand the feeling of attraction and where it comes from psychologically. That feeling of lust (or its euphemism, falling in love) is nothing but a breaking down of a part of one"s ego boundary -- "letting the other person in" to become one. In this, part of their egos become one; they feel more powerful, like they can achieve or do anything in the world because they"re "in love". But in actuality, that feeling comes from the newness of breaking that ego boundary. As obviously such, they become happier, maybe more productive, and their attitudes have probably became more positive.
But why? This is important. In that feeling, there is anegoism a deux, a blending of their egos. That"s why the feeling of falling in love materializes in such a strong manner--it"s enhanced egoism.
Take this couple"s relationship further and see where (and why) it goes. After dating for a period of time, the falling in love feeling seems to subside and be less of a force that compels them toward one another. The routine of daily life reasserts the ego boundary of the individual. He may wanna stay home and play games, but she might wanna go out. She might want a cat, but he may want a dog. Their egos are only further enhanced by reasserting themselves again, not by continuing to be as one. So what happens is they start to look for other ways and other people to do this, which of course leads to a break up.
So you see, when you strip the onion of psychological reality down to this, you can understand why being egocentric, cocky, and a jerk are appealing qualities. It even makes sense logically. It"s because when a man or a woman enter a relationship with an individual that exhibits those qualities, it becomes as I said earlier:egoism a deaux. This model explains dating and relationship behavior very accurately.
When you "play the game", ignore texts and phone calls, neg, be aloof and cocky, all of those qualities exhibit an enhanced (albeit illusory) sense of self vis a vis other individuals, and when you share that ego boundary, the passion feels "stronger" or the lust feels greater. Only after the routine sets in as mentioned above, do these behaviors or traits become negative qualities.
So someone who is nice, considerate, understanding, thoughtful, blahblah does NOT project an enhanced egoism, and that"s why they don"t have success in the dating world most of the time.
Women and men are actually very easy to understand, contrary to what people otherwise think. It"s not hard; it"s just depressing if you care to look.