Online Daters Fib - But Not That Much
If you’re single and you don’t want to be – it’s time to do something about! And this should help. If you’re avoiding the online dating services because you think it’s a perfect way for people to lie - about their age, looks, their profession and so on – you can rest a little easier. According to New Scientist magazine, online daters do fib – but not that much.
Jeff Hancock is a researcher at Cornell University. He and his colleagues looked at nearly a hundred male and female daters in New York, noting personal facts like the age and weight listed on their driver’s license, and then comparing them to what they’d posted on their online dating profile. And the researchers found that a lot of the daters DID lie – mostly to improve they way they looked - but the fibs they told were small. In fact, Hancock said they weren’t big enough to even notice if the daters met in person. And the lies varied by gender. Every woman who lied about her weight said she was lighter than she really was, and the guys said they were taller. But again, the lies weren’t that noticeable. The average difference between a profile and reality was about 6 pounds in weight, one-third of an inch in height, and 5 months in age. Hardly any deal-breakers.
Hancock says online dating sites probably get their bad rap from a few really big lies, which are the ones that get talked about time and again. In the study, the worst whoppers were 3 inches in height, 35 pounds in weight and 11 years difference between what was listed on the profile and real life. But since these numbers are much more memorable, they’re likely to put you off dating – even though they aren’t the norm. Bottom line: If you want to increase your chances of finding Mr. or Mrs. Right, you might want to reconsider hitting cyber-space.
