Ship-Testing 

Ship-testing is when a person does something to another individual just to see how they’ll react to what’s been done to them, or to gauge how they’ll behave under certain situations.

This is done in many ways, and most people unknowingly do it on a regular basis. For instance a man might ship-test his girlfriend by not contacting her all day to see if she’d reach out to him.

A boss can ship-test their employee by ordering them to do a specific task while withholding crucial details to determine how well they can work and overcome obstacles.

A mother can take away her child’s favorite toy to see if they’ll have a reaction like getting mad.

A guy can ship-test the honesty of his coworkers by leaving money on the ground nearby and see who alerts him of it or takes it.

Ship-testing is often done to predict the future behavior of a person; and/or to determine their moral compass.

Examples of Ship-testing:

“I have a strong suspicion that if I don’t text my friend Josh he’ll never reach out to me. I’m going to ship-test him by not calling or texting him.”

“My boss ship-tested me by hiding my backpack in his office to see if I’d flip out and lose my temper.”

“My girlfriend ship-tested me by having her friend flirt with me to see if I’d cheat on her.”

“The dog’s chew toy makes such an annoying sound. I’m going to ship-test it and see if it’ll freak out when I take it away.”

“You don’t need to ship-test me to see if I’m being honest with you Brandon! Ask me directly!”

“I wanted to see what you’d say about Janet. I brought her up because you know she’s a goth. I wanted to know if you’d judge her for it. Because then I’d know you’d judge me because I’m goth too. It was a ship-test.”

Ship-Testing by Bright Barry Boland February 7, 2019