What Scientists Have To Say About Dating (Part II)

Scientific studies and Jason Goldman have provided us with several strange pieces of advice so far, like sweet nothings should be uttered in the right ear whenever possible, playing Marvin Gaye might actually increase your chances of getting it on, and hitting the slopes with your sweetie might not be the best idea for a date unless you plan to spend your time sitting around the fireplace in the lodge with your hands wrapped around steaming cups of hot chocolate.

What other pearls of wisdom does science have in store for singles?

• Scaring a date - and I don't mean by answering the door in curlers and striped footie pajamas - might increase attraction. Psychologists at the University of British Columbia studied attraction by asking participants to cross one of two bridges spanning a local river: either one with handrails that appeared well-made and solid, or a dangerous-looking suspension bridge that swayed and tilted as it was crossed. An attractive female experimenter waited for participants on the other side of the bridge and asked them to complete a few questionnaires. Men who crossed the fear-inducing bridge were more likely to attempt further contact with the experimenter than men who crossed the other bridge. According to researchers, these findings were the result of the symptoms of anxiety-induced physiological arousal (e.g. elevated heart rate) being misinterpreted as sexual attraction and desire. What this means for your love life: Replace boring dinner-and-a-movie dates with more death-defying outings, like parasailing and shark wrestling.
• Always keep them guessing. In a recent study, college-age women viewed the Facebook profiles of four fictitious male students who supposedly had viewed their profiles first, and had indicated whether they liked the women a lot, a little, or had provided ambiguous answers. The women preferred the men who supposedly liked them a lot over the men who allegedly liked them a little, but were most attracted to the men who had given ambiguous responses. What this means for your love life: Make like a burrito and keep things under wraps - a little mystery goes a long way.
• "Plenty of fish in the sea" might be too many ichthyes. Over 3,000 men and women participated in 84 speed-dating events of different sizes. At the smaller events, each individual had 15-23 mini dates over the course of the evening, while at the larger events each person met 24-31 singles. When participants indicated which of their speed dates they would like to see again, those who had attended larger events based their decisions on external characteristics like age and weight rather than the conversations they'd had. Those who had attended the smaller events, on the other hand, based their choices on characteristics, gleaned from conversation, that indicated compatibility (like occupation, education, and religious affiliation). This is not the only study that has found that people make wiser decisions when they have fewer options. What this means for your love life: Opt for the dating prix fixe, rather than the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Read the original article here.