Negative Signalling

Have you seen a peahen? Peahens are female peacocks, though they bear no resemblance to their famous mate whatsoever, being small, shorttailed and a drab brown color. It's the male of the species that is far more gaudy.

One may wonder why would the peacock have such a large, colorful and cumbersome tail?. Wouldn't it make him far more vulnerable to predators? The answer is that it does! And it is precisely that fact that attracts the peahen; he can still survive in the jungle despite this handicap, so he must be a strong yet agile fellow and thus a worthy mate.

The emperor's crown serves the same purpose: he shows his status by proclaiming "Look! I can wear such a large, heavy and useless object because everyone else is here to protect me," thereby he is obviously the most important person around.

If we observe carefully, we can see this principle of "negative signalling" all around us. Look at girls who write blogs or post online. Many girls like to proclaim "I have bad temper/I'm a princess/I'm not easy to take care of." One would expect people to tend to hide their weaknesses online, yet they do not. The reason for this is simple - it is in fact a form of bragging that "despite my bad temper there is still a man (or many men) ready to take care of me and love me. I must be very desirable!"

Of course, the female of the species is not the only one using this tactic. Many men strut around proclaiming "I'm a bad boy" or "I'm a heartbreaker". This is meant to show that "despite my playboy tendencies I'm charming enough to make tons of girls fall for me". Personally I find this even more hilarious than the female version due to its lack of subtlety.

No one would ever self-proclaim a real weakness on the dating market, eg:

Men:
I'm not very smart and have zero ambition
I'm a big coward
My dick is less than two inches in length

Women:
My boobs are padded with multiple layers and I need a ton of makeup every morning to look presentable
(other variations on the same theme)

So when someone proclaims a weakness in public, it is very often negative signalling.