Relationships

Hosting speed dating events taught me many things. Most importantly, it taught me that men were brave - they put their fears and insecurities aside to show up and give themselves a chance to find love.

Unfortunately, many of the men I met were also misguided. They were so wrapped up in giving off a good impression and "winning" over the single women at each event that they failed to really pay attention to each individual. Instead, they were reciting a list of accomplishments or talking about their careers. The more I observed, the more I wanted to intervene. Women's eyes would glaze over. They would look at their watches, at the bar, anywhere else. They weren't interested at all.

Sure, maybe these women weren't attracted to some of these men at the speed dating events. But more importantly, the men weren't really paying attention. They didn't know when a woman lost interest.

If you meet a woman you find attractive and wonder if she's attracted to you too, the following tips can help you decide:

She returns your calls and texts. This might seem obvious, but it's not. We often make excuses as to why people aren't keeping in touch. But really, if she's interested she will reach out, even if it's a quick minute to check in and say hello.

She doesn't make excuses, she makes time. Have you ever tried to date a woman who kept canceling or rescheduling plans, because she got too busy with work, friends, or family obligations? Stop asking her out. If she isn't making time to see you, she isn't all that interested.

She doesn't pull away. I'm not recommending any man be sexually aggressive or assertive here. But touch is a good indicator of mutual attraction. If you touch her arm lightly or grab her hand and she doesn't pull away, or she grabs your hand, then you know she's interested.

She leans forward and makes eye contact. Many women speak volumes with body language. If she has her arms folded across her chest or sits back in her chair, she is disengaging from you. However, if she leans forward in her chair, makes a lot of eye contact, and really listens and responds to what you're saying, then she's interested.

She flirts. This might sound simple, too, but there's a difference between polite laughter and conversation and flirtatious banter. It's important to know the difference. Many women are non-confrontational, and they will be polite and cheerful until the end of a date, even if they don't see you as a good match. Please don't mistake kindness for interest. If a woman is really into you, she will flirt, engage, and ask what you're up to on the weekend, and make a point of wanting to see you again. So flirt in return if the feeling is mutual!

Everyone knows that mutual respect is desired, appreciated, even required when it comes to choosing a partner. However, while we can likely identify respect (or a lack thereof) as it applies to us, we might not always remember the many little ways we can display respect for our partner. Here are just a few:

The easiest way to demonstrate respect for others is simply to listen to what they have to say - and remember it. No, you don’t have to become a walking encyclopedia of every bit of trivia your date imparts, but you should aim for at least a passing grade if you were to be given a pop quiz on the evening’s conversation. This goes double if the trivia in question is an answer to a question you asked; asking a question and not listening to the answer proves you’re not really interested in what your date has to say.

Again, you don’t have to remember every tiny scrap of information; however, remembering a small detail and bringing it up later is a considerate move that goes a long way. Maybe on the second date, you bring a movie you both had said you were interested in seeing. Maybe you heard their cat was sick, so you text them the next day to ask how the cat is doing. There’s no need to go overboard with “inside jokes” or the recollection of facts and figures, but a small gesture is a good way to indicate that your date left a big impression.

Basic common courtesy never goes out of style - and it’s gender-neutral. Opening doors, offering to grab drinks for the two of you, asking about their day before starting in on yours - these are simple manners, but when you’re stressed on on a first or second date, they might be actions that slip your mind. Keeping your mind where it should be - focused on your date - can actually help calm your nerves, as well.

Not only should you listen to your date’s responses - you should respect them, as well. For example, if they say they don’t like a certain food, don’t order it anyway and tell them they’ll “love it this way.” If they tell you what their favorite movie is, don’t mock their choice. No, you don’t have to agree all the time, but over-the-top criticism - or, worse, outright ignoring their opinions - should be a red flag to you as well as to them.

Showing basic respect is likely something that’s already ingrained in your behavior. However, when the pressure mounts on a first date, it can be helpful to remember that making a good impression can be as simple as displaying good manners and common courtesy. Focusing on such basic qualities as respect, instead of stressing about, say, your hair, directs your energy in a far more useful direction.

Trying to understand the opposite sex when it comes to dating can be frustrating. I don't know how many times I analyzed how someone else felt about me or what they wanted. (A good time? A relationship? A friends with benefits situation?) For example, if a man went out of his way to come see a band with me, or if he was flirting with me all night, telling me how wonderful I was, I thought...he must like me as much as I like him. But then why wasn't he calling me?

I assumed I knew how these men felt based on a few really awesome dates we'd had - I was certain if we connected so much when we were physically around each other, he must be thinking about me when I wasn't there, too.

Was I wrong.

Men are pretty predictable when they are falling for a woman. He might be attracted to you, but that doesn't mean he wants to move forward into relationship territory. It's important to pick up on a few basic cues to see if the feeling is mutual:

He calls you consistently. Wondering why he's suddenly MIA after being all hot and heavy with you on your last date? I've been there - we think of all kinds of excuses as to why he doesn't call. Maybe he's too busy with work or maybe he's just not "a phone person." But we're not doing ourselves any favors by excusing him. The point is, if he really wants to call you, even if he's in a hospital somewhere, he will call.

He's not mysterious. While Hollywood movies like to tell us differently, men who are interested in a long term relationship don't disappear or keep part of their lives hidden. There's nothing sexy about someone who hides. A man who's interested will want you to know where he is. He wants to introduce you to friends and family. He makes plans with you. If he's not being straightforward about how he spends his time, likely you're not the only one in the picture.

He's not consumed by career ambitions. It took me a long time to figure this one out, because I assumed most of the men I dated put their careers first, relationships second. I was used to being called inconsistently or infrequently, chalking it up to "when the timing is right, he'll come around." But this isn't true. No matter where he is in his career, if you're right for each other, he will make time for your relationship.

His eyes are on you. Ever been on a date with a man you're crazy about, and he seems really distracted? If a man is really interested, he makes sure to pay attention to you. He doesn't get distracted by who else is there, including other women.

Women are crazy, right? We fall head over heels in love with men the minute we meet them, and we're obsessed and clingy forever afterwards.

At least, that's the narrative that's commonly told.

In reality, science says it's men who fall in love faster than women. One survey found that a man hardly needs to have spoken to a woman before he decides that she's the one for him. Women, on the other hand, require more time before they're willing to give their hearts away.

The survey was commissioned for the launch of Elizabeth Noble's new novel, The Way We Were, the story of childhood sweethearts who reappear in each other's lives years later. 1,500 men and 1,500 women aged 16 to 86 were polled about their love lives

One in five men surveyed claimed to have experienced love at first sight. Just over half reported being smitten with a woman after just one meeting, and nearly three-quarters admitted they'd lost their hearts within three dates.

In contrast, only one in ten women said they had experienced the fabled rush of love at first sight. Most said they waited until at least the sixth date before determining whether or not they'd found the real thing. The study also found that:

• The average British man falls in love just over three times in his life, while the average woman falls in love only once.
• More men than women claim to have loved someone who did not love them back.
• Men are also more likely to say 'I love you' first.
• Both sexes agree that their first love was the most difficult to get over. One in four said they felt they would never fully recover from the heartbreak.

Another study from the University of Texas found that it takes men 20 minutes or less to decide whether or not they want a second date with women. And the study found this interesting difference between the sexes: the more attractive a woman is, the more a man thinks she's interested in him. Women, on the other hand, tend to underestimate men's attraction to them.

Professor Alexander Gordon, a psychologist and member of the British Psychological Society, has analyzed the differences between men's and women's views of falling in love and choosing partners. He believes that men tend to turn to superficial factors, like a woman's looks, to determine whether or not they are in love, but the process of falling in love is much more complex for women.

Women are more likely to weigh all the pros and cons of a potential partner before making their choice. "Women are better at reading social situations," Gordon says, "and are more likely to ask more questions of themselves after meeting someone, like is he going to make me feel secure and will he be a good father to my children?"

Recent studies are beginning to show that online dating can, in fact, lead to successful, long-term relationships for many. This isn’t exactly a surprise to those who have witnessed or experienced success already, but it’s yet another step in breaking down the antiquated stigma that, for some, still surrounds online dating. These studies might even bring a fresh wave of those who want to take the plunge and sign up with a site. All good news, right? Well, yes - as long as we keep a few key points in mind. If you’re new to online dating, or just want a refresher on points to mention when you’re chatting with the curious, here are some to start with:

First and foremost, online dating isn’t really that different. When people have a negative impression of online dating, they usually believe something along the lines of a bunch of robots, clinically matching up the desperate. It’s otherworldly, foreign. Now that online dating is getting positive attention, it might still reinforce that notion that it’s “different” - only this time, it’s seen as a magic wand.

In reality, of course, online dating is just another way to meet people in person. You don’t strive to fall in love with a profile; that profile piques your interest enough that you send an email, and if there’s mutual interest, you meet in person. That’s where the real magic happens - and it’s a tale as old as time itself.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that online dating doesn’t have several benefits for those who have difficulty dating - it does! Since you don’t have to be on-site to learn that your potential match exists, you don’t have to worry about the serendipity of ever finding them. You can stumble upon their profile when you’ve just gotten home from working the night shift, for example. Or you can find the only other person who’s ever heard of your favorite movie, even though you’d never run into each other through your daily routines.

Another point to consider if you’re new or talking to someone interesting in signing up for online dating: even the most shy people have to be a little proactive. Online dating sites can show you profiles of people you may be interested in, but you’re the one who has to take that first step and email them. Online dating is efficient, but it doesn’t do the work for you.

That being said, for someone who’s shy, emailing can be considerably easier than approaching someone in person. And by the time you meet in person, you know there’s already at least a little mutual interest, so that first in-person meeting is all the easier. Testing out compatibility is always nerve-wracking, but online dating can at least ease those difficult initial steps. And with the sheer numbers involved in online dating, you have the ability to practice and get comfortable much more quickly than you might otherwise.

Online dating can indeed be a way to find love, as hopefully more and more people will discover over time. And by having honest conversations about it, we can continue to break down misconceptions. After all, the more people who approach online dating with accurate expectations, the faster they can find the love they’re seeking.

When it comes to dating with an age difference, there's usually only one story told: men love younger women, and women love older men.

Yeah, it's true - some men do want to date younger women and some women do only go for older men - but it's not the full story, and it's time we recognized that there's more to May-December dating than one unscientific-but-still-predominant view.

AYI.com (Are You Interested?), a dating service that uses Facebook to pair people based on interests, has pulled data from its 68 million downloads and 20 million Facebook profiles to analyze what it takes to make a successful match. Their experiment focused in on the 1 million recommended pairings in a specific population of 35,942 users ages 30 to 49.

AYI's most surprising finding was this: their female subscribers were five times more likely to show interest in men who were five years their junior than men who were five years older. The old narrative is outdated and inaccurate.

Well, sort of. Men do still like dating younger women, as the AYI study proved. Among the 26,434 men between the ages of 30 and 49 who were studied, 42% said they wouldn't even consider dating a woman if she was older than them. If, however, an older woman contacted them first, they admitted they wouldn't necessarily turn her down. AYI's data shows that a man is only 22% less likely to respond to an older woman than to a younger woman if she is the one who initiates contact.

What gives, guys? If you think older women are an easy target with no other options - and it doesn't require any preliminary effort on your part - you'll go for it, but otherwise you won't go anywhere near them? That doesn't sound like the progressive society I like to think I live in.

There are a few theories that explain why AYI's study turned up its findings. Once upon a time, AYI analysts think, young women marrying older men had an appeal based on wealth. While there are still plenty of women who like the idea of marrying for money, younger women are now inundated with requests from older men on dating sites and the myth of the Sugar Daddy is never as glamourous as it seems.

A 2008 study published in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly found that women who are 10 or more years older than their partner are more satisfied and more committed to their relationships than women who are the same age or younger than their partners. So guys...don't limit yourself to younger women, and girls...don't be afraid of dating younger men.