Statistics

Looking for new ways to attract men? Well, if you're inked (or thinking about it), a new study finds that men are more than twice as likely to approach a woman with tattoos.

A study from the Université de Bretagne-Sud found that men consider women with tattoos more approachable, but also more promiscuous. They admitted they would be more interested and likely to talk to her if they thought they could have sex with her right away.

For the study, researchers had 31 men identify the 11 "most attractive" participants from a pool of 58 candidates. The chosen participants would then visit area beaches - 10 trips each with a temporary tattoo and 10 without.

The tattoo the women used were the same, based on the typical tattoo of college-aged women: a butterfly on the small of the back.

The women with ink were solicited 23.67 percent of the time, but when the same women didn't have tattoos, that average dropped to 10 percent.

It turns out that how quickly a man approaches a woman was also affected by whether or not she was inked. For women with tattoos, the average time it took for a man to approach was 23 minutes compared to 35 minutes without a tattoo.

As part of the study, a male researcher at the same location would approach young men who were near the female participants in the study. The men were asked to rate the likelihood of the woman agreeing to a first date and having sex on a first date. Researchers agreed the evidence was clear after speaking with them: men see tattooed women as more promiscuous, which was a compelling reason they had to approach.

If you're already inked and aren't interested in hooking up with men, don't fret. While this study might point to potential problems with men hitting on you, you're the one in control here. You put boundaries in place on your dates, not the men you date.

And if you're not sporting any tattoos? Don't get one just so guys will be more willing to approach you.

We all make choices about how to present ourselves when we're dating, so be careful if you might be sending out the wrong message. In the same way tattoos might indicate promiscuity, so can revealing clothing, or being overly flirtatious. You'll have better success in the long run to be true to yourself and your own style, and own it.

It's the age-old question: can men and women be friends without any sexual urges or entanglements? This has been a subject of contention over the years, depicted in many movies from When Harry Met Sally to Friends with Benefits.

A new study has shed some light on the subject, affirming that it is difficult for men and women to be friends without any romantic feelings. At least, it's more difficult for men.

Online social dating site Canoodle.com surveyed 1,500 singles to find out where they stood, and while only 27% of women admitted to harboring feelings for a male friend, a whopping 56% of men said they'd want to be more than friends with their female buds!

For those of you wondering whether or not you should make the move and confess your feelings, the odds are in your favor. Sixty percent of men surveyed said they'd successfully turned their friendships into romantic relationships, and women came in with a 44% success rate.

However, if you have sex and then regret it, you may have some problems. Only 38% of women said it's possible to have sex and then go back to being friends. Fortunately, men don't feel the same way. A majority 52% of men said they'd be totally cool with being friends again after sex.

While this study does shed some light on the subject, it is a difficult situation. Most people are afraid to jeopardize a friendship, especially if they have a long history together, or have seen each other through other relationships that didn't last. Would it be better to throw caution to the wind and confess your feelings to your friend? What if he didn't feel the same? Or if he did, what if your relationship didn't work out in the long run?

These are all risks that we take in life. If you have strong feelings for someone, you owe it to yourself (and to your friendship) to address them, because chances are the other person is already aware. It's hard to hide romantic attraction, no matter how discreet you think you're being. It's better to be honest and move forward from there.

If you confess and your friend isn't interested, don't despair. If she's a good, true friend, you will likely stay friends even if you take a little time apart to move past it.

And if you confess and your friend is totally into you too? Even better, don't you think?

Stereotypes aren't always true. While prevailing wisdom indicates that older men like to date younger women, it turns out they aren't the only ones interested in dating younger.

A recent study conducted by dating app Are You Interested, which connects members based on their Facebook profiles, found that women were five times more likely to show interest in a man five years younger than one who is five years older. And as it turns out, the men are a little more open to dating older women. While 42% wouldn't consider reaching out to a woman who was older, if these same men were contacted by an older woman, most would entertain the idea of dating. Only 22% of men said they were less likely to respond when an older woman contacted them first.

Are You Interested pulled data from its 68 million downloads and 20 million Facebook profiles of members to see which ones were making successful matches. From this user base, they focused on 35,942 users aged 30 to 49.

Age seems to be a key factor. Members in their twenties were not considered, and there might be more diversity among them.

According to Are You Interested, one of the reasons for the trend of women going for younger men is that they get inundated with messages from older men, so dating older doesn't hold much appeal. There is something else to consider too, which is the fact that young women in general are putting more time and energy into their careers and education, making more money than their young male counterparts. They have little desire to settle down or to date someone older for reasons of financial security.

So what does this mean if you are online dating? Should you make sure that you don't date anyone more than two or three years older? Should you start limiting your search to profiles of younger men?

Most people do have age preferences, but if you are strict about them when you're online dating, you're missing out on opportunities. If you set age limits, you're more likely to set other hard limits too, like only dating men who live within a ten-mile radius, or who are taller, or who have a certain type of career. The choosier we are, the more people we are not getting the privilege of meeting, which is counter-productive in dating. The more you date, and especially the more you date outside your "type," the more you can draw on a vast array of experiences. Then you can make a truly informed decision about what type of person you want, and what kind of relationship you desire.

To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live...

We're all familiar with the famous wedding vows.

And we're all equally familiar with how hard it is to stick to them. Just look at the divorce rate - clearly honoring your vows is a heck of a lot harder than saying them. A recent poll from 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair found out exactly how challenging it is for spouses to stay true to their "I do's."

For women, these vows proved to be the most trying:

• For better or for worse (32%)
• To be faithful (25%)
• In sickness and in health (16%)
• For richer, for poorer (12%)

For men, the most difficult vows are:

• To be faithful (27%)
• For better or for worse (23%)
• For richer, for poorer (18%)
• In sickness and in health (17%)

And that's not all that 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair discovered about love.

They also found that, although most men and women would never betray their partners' trust, women are slightly more likely than men to sneak a peek at their spouse's e-mail.

The act of asking a father for his daughter's had in marriage is slowly on its way out. 45% think it's a necessary courtesy, but the rest consider it "gallant but unnecessary," "old-fashioned and embarrassing," or "sexist and offensive."

When it comes to the idea of love at first sight, unmarried couples are the most romantic. 66% of respondents in a relationship said they believe in the phenomenon, compared to 58% of married respondents and 48% of single respondents.

Where sex is concerned, the majority of people think it's "very important" (62%). Only a few think it's the "most important" aspect of a relationship (5%) or "not very important" (6%), with most falling somewhere in between at "somewhat important" (25%).

Thankfully, the in-law horror stories that are so popular in pop culture seem to largely be myths. The vast majority of couples think they get along well their spouses' families (71%). Only a few say "There's no love lost between us" (12%) and even fewer think the feelings differ depending on which side you ask.

No matter how much you love your partner, something about them is bound to drive you crazy. The most common coupled up complaints are:

• Sharing a bed (7%)
• Sharing a bathroom (13%)
• Doing household chores (16%)
• TV choices (36%)

But let's get real: if the toughest part of your marriage is deciding whether to watch basketball or American Idol, you've really got nothing to complain about.

The pressure's on for singles in Shanghai. The Chinese capital's fertility rate has dropped to just 0.79 children per woman, and now the city is desperate to encourage more young people to meet, marry, and raise a family.

The center of the city's dating scene is Shanghai Expo Park, where thousands of eligible young men and women gather in hopes of meeting their matches. 38,000 singles and parents attended a June 1st matchmaking event in the park, hoping to revive a marriage rate that is expected to fall 17% this year.

Shanghai is China's richest city, largest port, and a leading financial center in the country. It is also the center of waves of social changes that are sweeping the nation. An urban shift is shrinking the pool of factory workers who sustain economic growth in the country, while the ranks of the elderly - who increase healthcare and pension costs - are on the rise. City-dwelling citizens with higher education levels and a greater focus on their careers are marrying later and having fewer children, causing the Shanghai birth rate to drop to half the national level.

These shifts have caused major changes for Chinese women, who have become a larger, and increasingly educated, percentage of the population. "In the past, women were match-made by their parents," says Juemin Zhou, director of the Shanghai Matchmaking Trade Association. "Then, it didn't matter how old you were, or if your partner was blind in one eye, you still had to get married. Now, if you don't find someone suitable, you just don't settle."

Gong Haiyan, co-chief executive officer of Jiayuan.com, China's largest online dating agency, reports that women's expectations of potential partners - like owning a house - have now skyrocketed. "The first thing they look for," said Hansen Huang, a male attendee at the matchmaking fair, "is if you have a decent job, what is your salary like, if you have an apartment. Women are looking for a partner who can provide so they can live relatively comfortably."

In spite of these shifts, many Chinese citizens remain traditional. A young bride is still considered ideal, and women who wait too long to settle down many be considered "leftovers." "Women can be very picky when they're young," said Huang. "But if you don't sell when it commands the highest value, you may miss the golden opportunity."

The pressure to wed may be high, but Shanghai is doing its best to respond: about 2,000 couples were successfully matched at last year's event, a figure that bodes well for this year's fair.

According to a United Kingdom dating site for cheating spouses 22 percent of their members attended private school. This is more than twice the national level. There study further revealed that 15 percent of members had attended a religious school. The dating site has over 500,000 members which equal about 2.5 percent of the married population in the United Kingdom.

For more on this story, read the press release.