Dating

Cheaters can be identified by their voices. Highlighting your flaws in photographs may actually make you more attractive online. Listening to Adele could make you more a more desirable date. Men like women who have been dumped, and women prefer men who have done the dumping. Hamsters are rarely a dealbreaker.

That's what we've learned so far from YourTango's recap of "The 11 Weirdest Dating Studies Of 2011". We've got six more to go...what else has 2011 taught us about our love lives?

1. There may be a link between drinking and monogamy. According to Reason.com, the more a society practices monogamy, the more it consumes alcohol. Monogamy may also correlate with technological and cultural advancements.

2. Men take longer to get ready than women. Busted! We ladies may have the reputation for taking up the bathroom for hours, but a study this year found that men take an average of 81 minutes to get ready compared to a woman's 75 minutes. They even broke it down by task: 23 minutes in the shower, 18 minutes shaving, 10 minutes cleansing and toning, and 13 minutes selecting an outfit.

3. "Two Hearts Beat As One" is more than a U2 song. Ramesh Rao, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, says that "heart-synching" may be an accurate measure of how well two people connect on a physical and emotional level. When two hearts beat in sync because their magnetic fields are entangled, their rhythm can change and indicate how well a date is going.

4. Women shouldn't be overly friendly with their partner's friends. A study published in the American Journal of Sociology found a link between sexual dysfunction in older men and the friendship between their friends and female partners. When a woman has stronger relationships with her partner's friends than he does, it undermines his feelings of independence, privacy, and masculinity, causing him to feel insecure.

5. Women have better recall for things spoken in a deep voice. David Smith and a team from the University of Aberdeen found that women remember objects presented to them more accurately when they are introduced by a deep male voice, rather than a higher-pitched male voice. Low masculine voices also play a role in mate choice for women.

6. Men who cheat on their spouses are more likely to do themselves an injury...to a very private place. Only one word is needed to sum this study up: Ouch.

So there you have it... the 11 weirdest dating studies of 2011, and some interesting food for thought for 2012.

There are a few things that I look forward to at the end of every year. Christmas dinner with my family. Making resolutions for the new year. And all the Top 10 lists.

"Top 10 Albums Of The Year." "Top 10 Movies Of The Year." "Top 10 News Stories Of The Year." It's a quick, easy, and pop culture-friendly way to reflect on the major stories and scandals of the last 12 months, and this year YourTango has added a new list to the mix: The 11 Weirdest Dating Studies Of 2011.

Let's see what made the cut...

1. Men prefer to date women who have been dumped. A study published by the University of Michigan found that men prefer to date women who were dumped by their last boyfriends, while women prefer to date men who initiated their last breakup. The team behind the study speculates that when a man initiates a breakup it reinforces male dominance and traditional gender roles, whereas a woman who initiates a breakup is perceived as picky and high-maintenance.

2. Highlighting your flaws may make you more appealing on online dating sites. OkCupid ran a study that analyzed the photo vote patterns and messages from 43,000 female members. They found that falling in the middle of the attractiveness scale (being "cute" rather than "hot" or "unattractive") didn't always work out in women's favor. Playing up the features they thought that men wouldn't like, however, did prove to be a successful strategy for women.

3. People can identify a cheater by the sound of his or her voice. 120 male and female college students were asked to make vowel sounds in a range of pitches, then participants selected the voices that they thought were most attractive and the voices they thought belonged to cheaters. Men associated higher-pitched female voices with cheating, while women associated lower-pitched male voices with infidelity. There may be a biological imperative for the women's response: a deep voice could be indicative of a higher testosterone level, which may in turn be indicative of more promiscuity and an increased likelihood of cheating.

4. Adele could get you a date. Adele's most famous songs are about breakups, but it turns out that listening to her music may be a good way to hook up. A dating site called Tastebuds.fm, which matches potential dates based on their taste in music, found that the most successful online daters are fans of Adele's music. Lovers of Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, and the Arctic Monkeys were also lucky in love, while Metallica, Linkin Park, and Eminem fans were the least popular dates.

5. Hamsters are unlikely to ruin your chances of getting a date. Yep, someone actually studied that! When Craigslist.co.uk asked single men and women what kind of pet would make them less inclined to date someone, the hamster won the coveted title of "Least Likely To Break A Couple Up." 28% said they wouldn't date a dog owner and 25% wouldn't date a cat owner, but only 10% said a hamster is a dealbreaker.

The remaining six weirdest dating studies of 2011 are waiting just around the corner...

Are cash-strapped single girls dating for free dinners?

According to a recent article in Business Insider, at least a few girls have.

Introducing 23-year-old Manhattan-dweller Jessica Sporty, a girl who says that her $45,000 a year salary couldn't cover her rent, credit card bills, and food expenses.

What did she do to cure her financial troubles? Did she ask for a raise, find a second job, or look for a cheaper living arrangement? Nope, those options were far too mainstream. This enterprising young lady logged onto a popular dating site and starting scoring free dinners by going on dates with clueless men.

Yep, you read that right. Sporty started eating out five nights a week using a rotation of different men that she met online. To avoid confusion and emotional attachment, she limited herself to no more than five dates with the same guy, and never allowed them to see where she lives. She chose her suitors based on their financial profiles, targeting the investment banker types who could treat her to dinners at the city's most expensive eateries.

And her strategy worked - she went from spending at least $500 a month on dinners to having someone else pick up the tab for her meals. At an average of $60+ per night, the savings started adding up quickly. She also stopped eating lunch and choose light breakfasts to save even more. Although her dating site has a $50 monthly subscription fee, she says that her dates more than made up for the expense. "I mean, a guy buys me three drinks at $15 a pop and that right there made up for my fee," she explained to Business Insider. One man, she claims, even dropped $200 for a bottle of champagne during a date.

Seeing her success, Sporty's roommates got in on the action too. The creative trio made spreadsheets about each man that detailed important data like their names, photos, and info from their dating site accounts. They let each other know where they were going each night and who they were going with, and always met their dates in public locations.

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. Sporty began running into people she recognized from the site as online dating became increasingly popular in NYC. Eventually she tired of the scene, citing exhaustion and a weariness of "playing the game." She now has a steady boyfriend, and it seems as though she may have retired for good.

Was her strategy smart? Was it ethical? Was it gold digging, or simply a smart financial arrangement?

We're entering holiday season, which in my opinion is the best time to meet people and increase your dating prospects. With all the parties, dinners, and networking events, you're missing out if you turn down invitations. Halloween especially is a great time to mix things up in your love life if it's grown a little stale with endless coffee dates. There's something to be said for scary movies and dark nights.

So, if you're thinking of doing something off the beaten path on your next date, try some of these Halloween ideas:

Local haunted houses and tours. The fun of Halloween is getting scared and clinging to someone next to you...a perfect date situation (if you're attracted to each other)! Check your local paper or events listings for any places in your area. In L.A. where I live, Hollywood tours are a favorite-lots of legends of stars and mobsters meeting grisly ends, their ghosts lurking around to make an appearance on Halloween. Take a date that interests you and show her your bravery (or lack thereof).

Sometimes, it’s just difficult to meet someone in your own small town, and you’ve turned to online dating to broaden your search. Or maybe you did meet someone by chance, but they live on the other side of the country - or the world. Suddenly you’ve become thrust into a very specific kind of dating: the long-distance relationship. Though many consider a long distance to be the death knell for relationships, in fact many have led to successful, long-term partnerships. If you’re considering a long-distance relationship, it’s important to be aware of what you’re getting yourself into; all the pros and cons.

When you’re dealing with a long-distance relationship, it’s important to be practical. Adjustments are hard enough without assuming that everything will be unicorns and rainbows. Yes, you will probably spend more money on things that are less gratifying - gas, plane tickets and visas, for example - than presents and dates. Yes, the physical aspects of your relationship will be few and far-between. Though video chat does considerably lessen the feelings of distance, you’ll still have to inherently trust your partner, more and earlier. And that’s hard, especially when a practical person does have to realize that distance makes it easier to dupe someone, too.

However, long-distance relationships are not all gloom and doom. For one thing, having to make sacrifices early and often for a relationship really encourages those “adult,” “where-do-we-stand” conversations. Partners in a long-distance relationship essentially have to be on the same page for it to work. Secondly, most long-distance relationships have closing that distance as their end goal; instead of the endless limbo of dating someone because of convenience, things will either work out or they won’t - probably on a shorter timeline. And finally, working together to overcome a common goal - the distance between you - can contribute to the bonding experience.

But be aware of the traps that lurk in long-distance relationships! First and foremost is bitterness and resentment. These are toxic in the most stable of relationships, but they breed more easily when one of you has to give up your job, home, and life to move to the other one’s location. If you don’t want to do it, maybe it just won’t work out. That’s better than making the move, resenting your partner and eventually breaking up anyway.

Another hurdle is the opinions of friends and family. Be prepared for many raised eyebrows and pointed questions. Remember that though they may seem nosy or unhelpful, most of these questions come from a place of concern and love. Don’t create enemies, especially when you might either leave or be trying to integrate someone new into your family soon. And it doesn’t hurt to consider their views, either; sometimes love can blind us to red flags.

With a combination of faith in your relationship and practical attention to detail, it’s entirely possible to turn your long-distance relationship into a long-lasting (and up-close and personal) partnership. It might not be something you want to enter lightly, but the rewards can be well worth it.

Many of you attended a party or two during Halloween weekend. If you met someone you found interesting and would like to see him again, how do you follow up? Do you Facebook friend him, call him, or wait until he makes contact?

There are many “rules” for dating protocol here, created mostly for the sake of keeping a guy interested. I’m not a big fan of rules. I prefer taking chances. After all, risk can equal reward, right? Here are a few things to bear in mind when deciding whether to make the next move.

First, consider how you left things with your love interest. Did he say he would call you, or did you agree to more firm plans? If you parted ways by leaving him your phone number, it’s up to him to call. But don’t sit around and wait for it---keep attending networking mixers and online dating. Keeping yourself busy helps you keep your perspective. Remember, even if you liked him, there are plenty of other guys out there if he isn't for you.