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Impact of Self-Descriptions and Photographs on Mediated Dating Interest
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This simulated dating experiment addresses the relative impact of photographs and self-descriptions on dating interest in White students in Los Angeles (n = 223). A previous study demonstrated that self-descriptions had little impact on dating success. This was attributed to obstacles in inspection and processing time, primacy effects, information overload, interference, mental discomfort, and low variability in descriptions. The present study controlled for these factors. Results show that for men the self-descriptions were half as important as the photographs, whereas for women the impact of the descriptions was equal to the photographs. This article includes a discussion of the contrast between findings in research on mating preference and actual dating studies, and the implications of its findings for dating and the dating industry.
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... In contrast to face-to-face mate selection, the amount of informationaffordedtoparticipantsinthe modernonline datingenvironmentisseverelylimited.Thus,peoplemustusetheirfirstimpressions of individuals (often based just on portrait photographs) to decide about initiating a relationship by contacting a potential mate. Consistent with this reasoning, some recent work demonstrates that people may base their romantic decisions more on the photographs of potential mates thanon the accompanying verbal descriptions (de Vries, 2010). Examining mate selection from photographs, Townsend and Wasserman (1998;see also Townsend, 1993;Townsend & Levi, 1990a, b;Townsend & Roberts, 1993 for similarstudies)presentedparticipantswithtwophotographsofhighly attractivemembersoftheoppositesex(i.e.,bathingsuitmodels),each paired with either a high or low status verbal descriptor, and asked them to indicate the degree to which they were interested in dating each person. ...
... Previous researchers also presented participants with just a few photographs (Byrne et al., 1968;de Vries, 2010;Ha et al., 2012;Townsend, 1993;Townsend & Wasserman, 1998; however, see Wood & Brumbaugh, 2009) and treated the targets depicted in the photographs as a fixed factor in their analyses. This limits the abilitytogeneralizethefindingsbeyond thefewspecificyearbookphotographs, pictures of undergraduates, and swimsuit models used in those studies. ...
A large literature suggests that men and women differ in their self-reported mate preferences such that men place greater weight on physical attractiveness than women do, whereas women value financial prospects more than men. Yet, little research has addressed how these differences generalize to other contexts, such as modern online dating in which mate selection may largely depend on visual cues. Distinct from the sex differences observed in previous studies relying on self-reports, we found that men and women both used perceptions of health and attractiveness to select hypothetical partners based on photographs of their faces. Importantly, although people reliably identified others’ wealth from their photographs, these perceptions did not influence men’s or women’s partner selections. Thus, men and women may select romantic partners similarly based on limited visual information.
... However, this is an area in which men and women might differ, with men valuing physical attractiveness in a partner much more than women (Buss, 1989;Hitsch et al., 2010). For example, in online contexts, men place more value on the woman's picture than the text of her profile, but women give approximately equal value to the picture and profile text (Hitsch et al., 2010;de Vries, 2010). However, Luo and Zhang (2009) point out that in face-to-face dating situations, men and women do not differ in how physical attractiveness affects their choices. ...
... H1. Men and women will prefer attractive profiles over average profiles, but the effect will be greater for men than women. This is consistent with research by Hitsch et al., 2010 andde Vries, 2010. H2. ...
Today, it is not uncommon to meet someone and begin a romantic relationship online. Meeting on a dating website differs from meeting in person because a dating profile is created first that allows others to review potential romantic partners. Few studies have examined romantic attraction within an online dating context, and even fewer have examined how gender roles may influence attraction. The current study1 (N = 447, 49.4% female) examined the effects of gender role congruence and physical attractiveness on romantic interest in college students. Participants viewed online dating profiles that varied in their physical attractiveness and adherence to gender role norms. Results indicated that both men and women preferred attractive and gender role incongruent dating partners over average looking and gender role congruent. Contrary to previous research, women differentiated more between profiles based on physical attractiveness than the men, especially for gender role congruent profiles. Men were especially interested in attractive, gender role incongruent profiles. After physical attractiveness, gender role incongruence was the greatest factor that determined interest in a profile. Future research may need to consider how the potential seriousness of a relationship, as defined by the expected length of the relationship, influences how online profile characteristics affect attraction and interest.
... A key difference between online dating and more traditional forms of matchmaking, is that online dating relies predominantly on photographs and therefore physical attraction. Evidence suggests that although dating profiles do have some limited verbal descriptions, people base their romantic decisions primarily on the accompanying photographs [19]. Whilst both men and women look for a partner they find physically attractive, empirical evidence going back decades [e.g. ...
Dating agencies are a small, but growing sector of social care provision for people with intellectual disabilities. The research reported here is the first to explore, with 10 specialist agencies in the UK, why they were set up, how they operate, the barriers and problems they encounter and their success or otherwise in facilitating relationships for people with intellectual disabilities. A strong case is made for the proliferation of such services.
... A componente visual, contrariamente à componente escrita, ajuda mais rapidamente na criação de uma impressão e ao contrário dos textos contribui significativamente para atrair potenciais parceiros (De Vries, 2007). Estudos anteriores, como (Cash el al.., 2004;Humphreys, 2006;Siibak, 2009;De Vries, 2010;Toma & Hancok, 2012, Casimiro, 2015Chappetta, 2016, Miguel 2016) demonstraram não apenas importância das fotografias, assim como deste tipo de autoapresentação, e encontraram diferenças entre géneros e idades. Focando naqueles que partilharam conteúdo não identificável, 8% da amostra (n=200) fá-lo em todas as fotografias, configurando como tal um perfil totalmente anónimo. ...
As plataformas de online dating são uma realidade cada vez mais presente, no entanto é escassa a investigação relativa aos utilizadores portugueses. Desta forma a investigação desenvolvida no presente artigo teve como objetivo principal explorar as estratégias de autoapresentação mediada dos utilizadores portugueses e do processo de construção de perfis individuais na rede de online dating Tinder. O desenho da pesquisa mobilizou procedimentos de recolha de dados assente numa metodologia mista, combinando metodologias qualitativas e quantitativas, através da articulação da recolha de dados via observação não participante de 200 perfis (resultando num corpus de 701 fotografias e 87 textos), entrevista (10) e consequente análise de conteúdo. Como principais resultados e através da triangulação da análise dos resultados obtidos, foi possível observar singularidades, mas também padrões, nas práticas de autoapresentação e desempenho identitário, tanto em termos de imagens, como na informação textual. As diferentes estratégias envolvidas na autoapresentação demonstraram a reflexividade acionados pelos sujeitos num jogo dialético de expectativas recíprocas e leitura dos contextos mediados colapsados e audiências imaginadas. Encontraram-se fortes regularidades sociais, que demonstraram o carácter situacional da apresentação do eu que adapta as lógicas de ação a diferentes contextos. Foi assim evidenciada a “ordem da interação” (Goffman, 1983) num contexto mediado de autoapresentação pública cada vez mais colapsado em rede e em que as fronteiras com o privado (bastidores) são cada vez mais ténues.
... several thousand participants). Also, q = .10 is smaller than the significant sex differences detected than the small-stimulus n studies described above (De Vries, 2010;Li et al., 2013;Townsend & Levy, 1990). ...
A large, controversial literature has examined the hypothesis that the attractiveness of potential partners predicts romantic desire more strongly for men than for women. Nevertheless, prior studies demonstrating this sex difference in photograph-evaluation contexts have used extremely small samples of stimuli, which is as detrimental to statistical power as the use of small samples of participants. The current registered report used very large samples of both participants (N = 1,204) and stimuli photographs (N = 593) to test the sex difference in the attractiveness-desire association. The sex difference emerged with objective assessments of attractiveness from independent raters (approximately q = .13, a small effect) but not with participants’ own assessments of attractiveness (q = .00). Various other moderators that have been summoned to explain cross-study variability in prior research received no support (e.g. the sex difference was not larger in serious relationship contexts, the low-to-moderate range of attractiveness, etc.). Surprisingly, in the small sample of participants who were attracted to same-sex individuals, the attractiveness-desire association was stronger for women than men – the opposite of the sex difference anticipated by prior mate preferences research. This study provides effect-size benchmarks for studies of sex differences and highlights the importance of stimulus sampling when documenting replicable effects.
... A componente visual, contrariamente à componente escrita, ajuda mais rapidamente na criação de uma impressão e ao contrário dos textos contribui significativamente para atrair potenciais parceiros (De Vries, 2007). Estudos anteriores, como (Cash el al.., 2004;Humphreys, 2006;Siibak, 2009;De Vries, 2010;Toma & Hancok, 2012, Casimiro, 2015Chappetta, 2016, Miguel 2016) demonstraram não apenas importância das fotografias, assim como deste tipo de autoapresentação, e encontraram diferenças entre géneros e idades. Focando naqueles que partilharam conteúdo não identificável, 8% da amostra (n=200) fá-lo em todas as fotografias, configurando como tal um perfil totalmente anónimo. ...
Online dating platforms are a present reality, however, investigation regarding the Portuguese users is scarce. Therefore, the investigation conducted in the present article has the exploration of the strategies of mediated self-presentation from the Portuguese users and the process of building individual profiles on the online dating platform Tinder as a main goal. The outline of this research focuses on a mixed methodology for data collection, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, where data is collected via non-participant observations of 200 profiles (resulting in a corpus of 701 photographs and 87 texts), interviews (10), and subsequent content analysis. As main results obtained through data analysis triangulation, it was not only possible to observe singularities but also patterns in the self-presentation practices and identity performance, both in terms of images and textual information. The different strategies involved in the self-presentation demonstrated the reflexivity triggered by the subjects, in a dialect game, with mutual expectations and reading of the mediated collapsed contexts and imaginary audiences. Strong social regularities were found, which demonstrate the situational character of the self-presentation, which shapes the logics of action. The "interaction order" (Goffman, 1983), in a mediated context of public self-presentation, increasingly more collapsed in a web, and where the barriers with the private (backstage) appear to be more blurred, was evidenced.
... In one study, more male respondents replied to (i.e., were more interested in) the attractive/low-income female ad than the unattractive/high-income female ad, whereas more female respondents replied to the unattractive/high-income male ad than the attractive/low-income male ad (Goode, 1996). Other studies have looked at these two qualities independently and found that attractiveness tends to have a more positive effect on men's than on women's responses (Baize & Schroeder, 1995; Colwell, 2007; de Sousa Campos, Otta, & de Oliviera Siqueira, 2002; de Vries, 2010; de Vries, Swenson, & Walsh, 2008; Ha, van den Berg, Engels, & Lichtwarck-Aschoff, 2012; Lynn & Shurgot, 1984). Similarly, earning prospects tend to have a more positive effect on women's than on men's responses (Baize & Schroeder, 1995; de Vries et al., 2008; Pawlowski & Koziel, 2002). ...
A central element of interdependence theory is that people have standards against which they compare their current outcomes, and one ubiquitous standard in the mating domain is the preference for particular attributes in a partner (ideal partner preferences). This article reviews research on the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences and presents a new integrative model that highlights when and why ideals succeed or fail to predict relational outcomes. Section 1 examines predictive validity by reviewing research on sex differences in the preference for physical attractiveness and earning prospects. Men and women reliably differ in the extent to which these qualities affect their romantic evaluations of hypothetical targets. Yet a new meta-analysis spanning the attraction and relationships literatures (k = 97) revealed that physical attractiveness predicted romantic evaluations with a moderate-to-strong effect size (r = ∼.40) for both sexes, and earning prospects predicted romantic evaluations with a small effect size (r = ∼.10) for both sexes. Sex differences in the correlations were small (rdifference = .03) and uniformly nonsignificant. Section 2 reviews research on individual differences in ideal partner preferences, drawing from several theoretical traditions to explain why ideals predict relational evaluations at different relationship stages. Furthermore, this literature also identifies alternative measures of ideal partner preferences that have stronger predictive validity in certain theoretically sensible contexts. Finally, a discussion highlights a new framework for conceptualizing the appeal of traits, the difference between live and hypothetical interactions, and the productive interplay between mating research and broader psychological theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Two studies with racially diverse samples examined the effects of gender role congruence on romantic interest in online dating profiles. Study 1 ( N = 429, 55% male) was a replication and extension of Chappetta, K. C., & Barth, J. M. (2016). How gender role stereotypes affect attraction in an online dating scenario. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 738–746 and examined the effects of profile gender role congruence, physical attractiveness, and a person’s own gender stereotypical characteristics on romantic interest in young adults. Participants viewed online dating profiles that varied in physical attractiveness and adherence to gender role norms. Attractive and gender role incongruent profiles were preferred over average-looking and gender role congruent profiles, but the latter effect was driven by women. The difference in preference for attractive and average-looking profiles was greater for women than for men. Women’s preferences for incongruent profiles were associated with self-reported feminine traits, but preference for congruent profiles was associated with self-reported masculine traits. Study 2 ( N = 958, 50.6% male) removed the profile photos to provide a better test of the influence of gender role congruence. Study 1 results replicated: Incongruent profiles were preferred over congruent profiles, primarily for women, and women’s masculine and feminine traits were associated with preferences for congruent and incongruent profiles, respectively, supporting the idea that attraction is based on perceived similarities. Men’s preference for both congruent and incongruent profiles was related to holding feminine communal traits and egalitarian gender role beliefs. Women’s preference for gender role incongruent profiles was robust across three studies. There was no support for predictions from social role theory that people prefer gender role congruence.
This study discusses the changing geographies of intimacy by focusing on the experiences of female Tinder users in Istanbul. Within the scope of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 women in Istanbul. Based on these interviews, the flows of how women use Tinder have been created and the locations in which the app is used have been identified. The study revealed that women use this mobile application secretly and they do not actively use it in the neighborhoods where they live and work. The way women look for relationships varies considerably and they choose among varying types of relationships. Tinder allows women to rapidly expand their pool of potential partners and eliminate other intermediaries and their social supervision in building relationships. These facts indicate that the geographies of intimacy and the gender relationships within these geographies have started to change for some women.
Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that men and women possess both long-term and short-term mating strategies, with men's short-term strategy differentially rooted in the desire for sexual variety. In this article, findings from a cross-cultural survey of 16,288 people across 10 major world regions (including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia) demonstrate that sex differences in the desire for sexual variety are culturally universal throughout these world regions. Sex differences were evident regardless of whether mean, median, distributional, or categorical indexes of sexual differentiation were evaluated. Sex differences were evident regardless of the measures used to evaluate them. Among contemporary theories of human mating, pluralistic approaches that hypothesize sex differences in the evolved design of short-term mating provide the most compelling account of these robust empirical findings.
Singles have many places and spaces available to them to find a romantic partner. How one creates a ‘first impression’ in each of these spaces can vary. This chapter argues that some of these spaces allow individuals to gradually get to know one another, while other spaces expect individuals to reveal a wealth of information about themselves prior to any oneon- one communication with potential dates. An online dating site is an example of the latter. Given that details about one’s ‘self’ are presented differently on an online dating site compared to other dating arenas, it is argued here that unique skills and strategies are required to successfully sell oneself on an online dating site. In other words, there is an art to selling oneself on an online dating site. This chapter will outline my BAR approach theory, which contends that if individuals are to successfully develop a romantic relationship from an online dating site, they need to present a balance between an ‘attractive’ and a ‘real’ self on their online profiles.
Fifty women gathered in June 2003 at a television news conference to announce they had all been duped by a man they had met online: US Army Col. Kassem Saleh, a military officer whom each had met via an online dating site, had been wooing all 50 women simultaneously, even going so far as to propose to many of them, despite the fact that he was already married to another woman. At least two of the unwitting women had already bought wedding gowns before discovering the ruse. One woman called Colonel Saleh’s email love letters ‘intoxicating’ and another said they were ‘more romantic than the works of poets William Butler Yeats or Robert Browning’ (Kleinfeld, 2003). ‘You are my world, my life, my love and my universe’, Saleh allegedly wrote in an email love note to one of his many mistresses (Kleinfield, 2003).
This book is fun to read!…Cooper takes care to delineate those studies that were particularly important in their purpose, particularly clever in their design, and most groundbreaking in their results. He makes a gripping story of the inception and march of progress in what could have been simply a long series of interesting research projects. In doing so, he made me nostalgic for a time when the field of psychology was alive with excitement and overrun with research topics that actually made sense to those outside a narrow specialty and that meant something to the citizenry." -Alan Cheney, PSYCCRITIQUES"Cooper (Princeton) does a superb job summarizing research on the concept of cognitive dissonance since it was first elucidated by Leon Festinger in the 1950s…Cooper brings a much-needed historical perspective to cognitive dissonance, and he peppers his discussion with interesting personal anecdotes. Political analysts as well as psychologists will be interested in the specific conditions that elicit cognitive dissonance." -D.J. Winchester, Yeshiva University"Dr. Joel Cooper has been at the very forefront of research on dissonance theory for decades now. In this book, he provides a brilliant and engagingly-written review of the 50-year history of dissonance research and a masterful account of the ensuing developments in the theory. The book will be an outstanding resource for readers familiar with dissonance research and an enlightening introduction for those who are not" -Professor Russell H. Fazio, Ohio State University Why is it that people who smoke continue to do so knowing how bad it is for them? What drives people to committing adultery even though they inherently believe this is wrong? What’s the outcome of this contradiction in the mind? Cognitive dissonance has been an important and influential theory since Leon Festinger published his classic work in 1957. It is known by every social psychologist, most psychologists of any stripe, and the lay public, making its way into such mainstream publications as The New York Times with increasing frequency and accuracy. Ultimately, dissonance has become one of the most popularly known expressions of social psychological insights, making its way into the literature in consumer, health and economic behavior, and has become a frequently used explanation of political behavior in the popular press and magazines. In marking the 50th anniversary of the theory’s inception, Joel Cooper - arguably the scholar most associated with dissonance research in the past few decades - has presented a beautiful, modern and comprehensive analysis of the state of dissonance theory. This book charts the progress of dissonance theory, assessing its impact not only within our understanding of psychology but in everyday experiences as well. It should be important reading for students in social psychology, either undergraduate or graduate, but equally relevant to a host of other readers who need to understand or share the same passions for appreciating the significance of cognitive dissonance in the human psyche.
Lonely hearts advertisements (LHA) published in Japan were examined in a comparative study on sexually dimorphic mate preference. I analyzed 944 LHA written by Japanese (730 by males and 214 by females) seeking short-term relationships and 780 LHA (577 by males and 203 by females) seeking long-term relationships. Some universal patterns of mate preference were confirmed and others were not. Female advertisers in both categories sought more traits than they offered; they also sought more traits than male advertisers. Males tended to offer their financial and social status, and females tended to seek those traits. More females requested family commitment than males. While there was no sex difference in offering and seeking physical appearance and health, females tended to request photographs of their potential mates. Males were more likely than females to be willing to accept children from previous relationships, although there was no significant difference in refusing such children. More females seeking long-term mates requested family commitment than females seeking short-term mates. In both males and females, more advertisers seeking long-term mates offered family commitment than advertisers seeking short-term mates. Some predictions for contingent preference were also examined. One prediction confirmed was that females offering physical appearance and health sought more traits than those not doing so. However, males offering financial and social status did not make higher demands than those who did not, which does not support one prediction.
The hypothesis of homogamy (i.e., the mating of similar individuals) with regard to the six love styles identified by Lee (1973, 1977) was investigated. The six love styles examined were: Storge (companionate love), Agape (selfless love), Mania (possessive, dependent love), Pragma (practical love), Ludus (game-playing love), and Eros (passionate love). Participants were 152 undergraduate students (110 women, 42 men). Participants indicated their preferences for six bogus stimulus people (reflecting each of the six love styles) presented in transcribed interview format. The Love Attitudes Scale (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1986) was used to assess participants' levels of endorsement of the six love styles. Correlational analyses revealed that, in general, participants did prefer stimulus people similar to themselves on love style, supporting the hypothesis of homogamy. Furthermore, the most consensually desired love styles were Storge and Agape. The least consensually desired was Ludus. No differential preferences by gender were found. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for mate selection.
The finding that women are attracted to men older than themselves whereas men are attracted to relatively younger women has been explained by social psychologists in terms of economic exchange rooted in traditional sex-role norms. An alternative evolutionary model suggests that males and females follow different reproductive strategies, and predicts a more complex relationship between gender and age preferences. In particular, males' preference for relatively Younger females should be minimal during early mating years, but should become more pronounced as the male gets older. Young females are expected to prefer somewhat older males during their early years and to change less as they age. We briefly review relevant theory and present results of six studies testing this prediction. Study 1 finds support for this gender-differentiated prediction in age preferences expressed in personal advertisements. Study 2 supports the prediction with marriage statistics from two U.S. cities. Study 3 examines the cross-generational robustness of the phenomenon, and finds the same pattern in marriage statistics from 1923. Study 4 replicates Study 1 using matrimonial advertisements from two European countries, and from India. Study 5 finds a consistent pattern in marriages recorded from 1913 through 1939 on a small island in the Philippines. Study 6 reveals the same pattern in singles advertisements placed by financially successful American women and men. We consider the limitations of previous normative and evolutionary explanations of age preferences and discuss the advantages of expanding previous models to include the life history perspective.
This chapter discusses physical attractiveness in social interactions. Physical attractiveness is, in many ways, a homely variable. The physical attractiveness variable is unpretentious for at least two reasons. First, it is unlikely that it will be found to be orthogonal to other dimensions, primarily intelligence, socioeconomic status, and perhaps genetically determined behavioral predispositions associated with morphological characteristics. Second, it seems highly unlikely that physical attractiveness will ever form the core concept of a psychological theory, even a much needed social perceptual theory, which will illuminate the way to useful and interesting predictions about social relationships. The chapter focuses on recent social psychological evidence, which suggests that even esthetic attractiveness may be a useful dimension for understanding certain social phenomena, and, perhaps, for illuminating some personality and developmental puzzles as well. Perception of the physical attractiveness level of another appears to be influenceable by the affective and experiential relationship between the evaluator and the person whose physical attractiveness level is to be judged, as well as by factors unique to the evaluator and the setting in which evaluations are made, although none of these factors have been the subject of much study. The impact of physical attractiveness upon the individual has been highlighted in the chapter.