Turns out judging someone purely on a photo isn't the best way of going about meeting people, who knew?
Sure, they might look great and have top notch, five-star Trip Advisor review banter to match, but when you go for a drink something falls flat and you can't quite put your finger on it. If you've been on a number of Tinder meet ups you'll probably know the feeling all too well.
According to a recent study by the the University Of Kansas, talking up a storm over Tinder is no indication of real-life chemistry.
Researchers at the university looked at how your perception changes from idly swiping right on someone's photo, to that fateful meeting IRL.
To see how this played out, they got in 10 people to rate photos of the opposite sex from one to 10 before they had a 10-minute conversation. Afterwards they rated the photos again, and answered a series of questions about the person.
Those who were deemed good looking beforehand (we are guessing the 10s) did not increase in attractiveness – apparently this is the "ceiling effect" as there is no room for movement, so you can't get much better. Sucks to be good looking, eh?
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But those who were ranked in the middle (those humble 5s) received much higher ratings. Two things stuck out to the researchers: if your date rates highly in likability and having a good sense of humour, then your overall attractiveness towards them is much higher.
So dating apps are somewhat flawed, because rating someone purely on their attractiveness before meeting is going to have a knock-on effect of your perception of that person afterwards.
On the flip side, turns out you don't need to worry too much about which photos you should use on Tinder after all. Apparently lowering your expectations isn't always a bad thing.
From Esquire
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