When creating an online dating profile, the usual protocol is, of course, to put one’s best foot forward. But don’t try to make yourself look too good. According to new research, an over zealously scrubbed online dating profile may not elicit the adoration you’d think.
Researchers found that people are distrusting of flashy or too-perfect online dating profiles. The most successful profiles, instead, are those that feel authentic, and offer a sense of who the person really is.
People want to contact a person who appears to be accurate in what they are saying about themselves online. It’s tough when it comes to dating profiles because we want someone who seems like an amazing person, but we also hopefully will have a relationship with this individual, so we want them to exist.
In order to test how people respond to various types of dating profiles, the researchers created fake profiles with combinations of two possible orientations. The first orientation highlighted only what is “good” about the person and their life, while the other type of profile contained information that is traceable to a real person.
The pseudo-profiles were then shown to study participants who had previous experience using online dating sites. The participants were asked to judge the profiles and decide who they would be interested in dating.
The profiles that scored the highest were those that did not present the person as perfect, and which also contained information that made the person feel more real.
Essentially, the findings suggest that people want to be able to see, and relate to, the person behind the profile. The participants preferred getting more details about the prospective partner’s life, and seeing a range of different traits and interests, rather than just the most positive. Perhaps, as we become more seasoned online daters, our BS detectors start to go off more — and real becomes more important than perfect.
The best advice is to balance all that is wonderful about you with some things that aren’t negative, but more humble or realistic.
Source: The Huffington Post