Have you heard of eHarmony, match.com or probably the better known app, Tinder? You probably know these as places where individuals try to match for a short-term hookup or a date. However, in 2014, 11% of American adults used dating sites and 4 out of 10 of these individuals are looking for a partner online. So, it seems that the average American is pretty serious on finding the perfect "one". The question now is, what qualities are people looking for when looking for their soul mate? A pretty interesting study done by Seunga Venus goes into this general topic with a deeper focus. The study looks into the qualities of trustworthiness, interpersonal attraction and the Big Five personality traits(agreeableness, conscientiousness, neurotics, openness, and attraction). The interesting addition to this is the experimenters decided to test the effects of the dater's profile of being conservative/open-minded on people's perceptions of these qualities.
The study incorporated 65 undergraduate students from a major U.S. university who were randomly selected and assigned to the two groups. The individuals made profiles using manipulation stimuli, i.e. making their profile and pictures match an "open minded"/ "close minded" look. For example, the traditional/uptight pictures featured , "loose clothing" covering the maximum amount skin. The open/free-spirited pictures featured flashy daters in tight, revealing clothing. Afterwards, the participants were matched with individuals from the opposite sex. The Source Credibility Scale, Interpersonal Attraction Scales, and NEO Big Five inventories were all used to measure the desired qualities reported from the participants. To make sure each person was perceiving the profiles as traditional/open minded, a questionnaire was used answering various questions. The study was performed using these parameters and determined that in the open condition scenario, participants perceived each other to be more open than in the traditional scenario. Interesting enough, this matches the confirmation bias which is a tendency to search or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions. The participants in the traditional conditions are perceived to be more trustworthy, interpersonally attractive, agreeable conscientious and neurotic than open minded individuals. The study demonstrated the impact user-generated profiles had on the user's perception for the major qualities that are sought for. Interesting enough, online dating seems to have also caused certain perceptions to arise in women.
Molly Shapiro, journalist for the Huffington Post, brings a different view on online dating . She wrote an article describing how online dating is something that women just will not do but is something they should do. She plunges into several, interesting topics on the subject matter. She dives in with the idea that women will not go into dating because people will perceive them as loser who seeks desperation. However, she goes into the scenario that when women go out to places such as bars, men will tend to objectify them, taking looks mostly into account. However, she talks about how when using online dating sites, you can efficiently and sensibly find hundreds of potential individuals who have lengthy profiles with "background, intersects, personality". Shapiro's attitude surprisingly connects to the previously mentioned study that people tend to look at someone's internal qualities (traditional) then their external qualities(open-minded). She also brings forth a counter-example to bolster her argument. She explains how women have that common perception that men lie online. The author brings forth a short anecdote on how she even matched and fell in love with a man whose whole persona was a lie. Finally, the author brings up the notion that women want that good "how we met story". She discusses how her current, 4-year old relationship was with someone she matched online who she was initially unsure about. Now, she got to know his qualities and does not feel shame and is proud to be with him which also connects with conclusion from the study where people's user generated profiles affect their perception. The article provides an fascinating example of how previous notions are slowly becoming criticized.
From reading the study and article, you are probably asking, "so what? what was the point of this?". Well the article and study provided points which reveal how our current society is shifting. With the modernization of technology, individuals are shaping their ideas and perceptions on dating around it. Personally, Tinder is something that I see used by almost all of my friends. Additionally, the pictures and methods discussed in the study are things that my peers surprisingly use to make themselves more attractive to women on Tinder. Also, the article shows how a woman's perception represent how this new method of dating is slowly becoming acceptable and viable. Her perception may be an attitude that many others share and could possibly be a norm sometime in the future, Something to consider next time you are looking for that "one".
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ReplyDeleteThe study that you summarized was very interesting, and also one that is very relatable to young adults and adults today. I do feel like you could have gone a little more in depth about the particular study that was being conducted. It was a very short and brief summary of what the study was about and how it was being conducted, and then you just abruptly brought in the journalistic view on the topic. I would just suggest in the future going more in depth about the study and analysis of the study.
ReplyDeleteYour graph was very well placed and helped inform me more about the study. I do think that more graphics within the post would have made it more pleasing to read. I think maybe just another graphic of some sort to space out all of the text. I also would suggest that you increase the size of the text. The text was very small and made it hard to focus on what information was being conveyed. The small text made it very hard to follow along and pay attention.
I also conducted a little bit of research on online dating and found a great article from Pew Research Center at http://www.pewinternet.org/2006/03/05/online-dating/. Pew found that 61 percent of adults who are online currently do not think that online dating users are quote/unquote desperate. There is quite a few other interesting findings on the topic that helps and hurts this study. Overall good job, and I really learned something new from your blog post.
I do agree with Christian that you could have elaborated a little more on the details of the study, and I am a little confused about how the article by Molly Shapiro connects to the findings of the study. I think the graph you chose to include is interesting, but in terms of contiguity I think it could have been placed elsewhere in your summary. It has very interesting information, but it doesn't necessarily relate to the study you summarized.
ReplyDeleteSome of Shapiro's arguments as to why women should want to date online raised a few questions. I am in no way opposed to the idea of women dating online— everything in our society can be done on the internet, and I know that plenty of people meet their soulmates that way. However, she says that at bars men tend to objectify women and only take looks into account, whereas on the internet you can see lots of information about the background and interests of a potential individual. On websites like match.com and eharmony this is partly true, but on apps like Tinder there is nothing else to take into account besides a persons looks. Even on the websites that allow lengthy profiles, people can write a profile that creates the best versions of themselves. They can use the best photos and, of course, only choose to highlight the qualities they are most proud of that they think will be attractive to others. When you are meeting someone at a bar, on the other hand, you can see for yourself how this person really acts. Of course people online and in person are going to take looks into account when looking for a significant other, but at least when you are meeting in person you can see right off the bat if your personalities are compatible.
The results of the study are interesting, but come at no surprise. I feel as though people come to conclusions about others just based off looking at their social media profiles. While reading your summary I couldn't help but think of our social media sites and future employers. It just goes to show how important it is to filter the pictures we post. We could be the most organized, hard-working and well-rounded students, but if our pictures show us partying, wearing skimpy clothes and holding alcohol, a potential future employer will automatically assume we aren't fit for the job.
I just recently read an article (http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12833146/instagram-account-university-pennsylvania-runner-showed-only-part-story) called "Split Image" about social media and how people can frame exactly how they want others to view their lives. About a year ago a track star from the University of Pennsylvania committed suicide. People couldn't believe it— she was beautiful, smart, had a full ride to an ivy league school, had a family that loved her, and her social media profiles highlighted it all. What it didn't show, however, was how much pain she was in. She Instagrammed regularly, and to her followers she was perfectly happy. This just goes to show how easy it is to manipulate your social media profiles to make people view you however you want. Dating online can be great, but it is just something to keep in mind.