Statistics

Ever wonder what makes people compatible? Well, a recent study by eHarmony and the Oxford Internet Institute says that there's no place like home for people seeking true compatibility.

eHarmony considered the results of over 1,000 UK couples in the survey, considering responses to questions about culture and preferences for relationships. The results indicated that certain cultures shared similar beliefs and were thus more likely to result in more successful cross-cultural relationships. Some examples would be striking similarities between UK and U.S. cultures as well as relationships between residents of South American countries such as Argentina and Spain or Mexico and Brazil. Contrarily, people from strikingly different cultures such as Mexico and Japan or China and India are said to have less opportunity for relationship success.

While the final results of the joint study between eHarmony and the Oxford Internet Institute have not been published in their entirety, the initial results offer some food for thought in the world of online dating. Perhaps you never considered dating someone with a different cultural background than yours. Well, now's the time to add those criteria to your search! Here are two things to consider when conducting your online dating search for a mate from a different culture:

Religious Background: Understand your commitment to your personal religious beliefs when you initiate your online dating efforts. This will help you as you choose profiles to review. For example: staunch Christians may not share enough in common with someone from an East Indian background due to the prevalence of Hinduism in that culture.

Cultural Rituals: Do you celebrate Christmas? Is Mardi Gras a huge event for your family? Do you observe the Chinese New Year? Don't be afraid to open up a dialogue with a new date about landmark events that light up their calendar and feel free to share those of you own.

For more on the story read the official eHarmony Blog and to find out more about the dating site mentioned in this article, check out our eHarmony review.

Game Pro Australia had an interesting article which talks about gaming habits and relationships. According to them, 80 percent of women have complained about the amount of time their boyfriend uses the internet or plays video games. 20 percent have actually dumped someone for this reason. The most likely culprit to cause an argument was Infinity Wards Call of Duty games.

In comparison, 72 percent of men said they thought their girlfriend spent too much time online. 6 percent of men saw this as a reason to break up.

I bet you have searched online for your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. A nationwide survey from PhoneFling found that 62.4 percent of the 275,000 people who took the survey had used the internet to search for someone that they had dated in the past. The 46 years and older age range had the lowest percentage of 47.9 percent.

A few more things found in the survey about dating sites include:

• 86 percent have known someone that used an online dating site.
• 70.4 percent have known someone that took the interaction offline and met their date in person.
• 43.6 percent have even known someone that entered into a long-term relationship with someone after finding them through an online dating site.
• 88.7 percent said that they were more likely to choose a dating service if they could browse people’s profiles on their mobile phone.
• 71.5 percent of respondents said that they flirt more often using social networking sites or online dating than they do when they flirt face-to-face.

In regards to white lies about weight, height, appearance, age, career, or income, only about 10 percent of respondents admitted that online dating and social media sites made them “More Likely” to fib. In comparison 64.1 percent of the people surveyed stated that online dating and social media sites actually made them “Less Likely” to fib about these characteristics.

For more on the story, read Easier Lifestyle.

The eHarmony Blog wrote a piece about how cooperation in the pursuit of love gives singles an edge in dating. The eHarmony post is based on research published in this month's Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB) which we talked about previously in October (see Story).

As mentioned in our previous post the research that the PSPB published shows women groups tend to cooperate to repel unsuitable mates. Whereas men tend to help each other to gain access to desirable women.

eHarmony did add a few interesting points. Apparently if you are a guy, your best wingman probably are a group of women. Information from a woman about a man is usually better received by another woman. What also is true is, if the guy is surrounded by women, this sends a signal to other women who may be interested in the guy that he is accepted and acceptable.

Further reading reveals that all of these strategies are usually used in the presence of friends, instead of family and strangers.

For more information on the popular dating site mentioned in this post, read our review of eHarmony.

247 iPhone owners nationwide were surveyed (I know not a very big sample pool) by Retervo to produce a snapshot profile of a typical user. Here are the highlights of what they found out:

Question: What makes a person more attractive, a college degree or cool gadgets?

• According to the survey 75 percent of iPhone owners prefer to date someone with cool gadgets.

Question: Have you texted or emailed someone to break up with them?

The Times Online UK took a look at what they called Quickie Dating Websites recently. When I think of a quickie I assumed they were referring to an adult dating site where people go looking for casual sex. I was only partly right. They were talking about Affair / Infidelity dating sites for married people. On this side of the Atlantic, the most popular dating site for people looking to have an affair is Ashley Madison, where it is even guaranteed. In the Times article they took a look at Forget Dinner (ForgetDinner.co.uk) which is very popular in London. It is not advertised really as an affair dating site but most people on the service seem to be married. Profiles tend to be straight to the point and a lot of the photos contain nudity. There appears to be about 10 men for every 1 woman on the dating site.

Here are some infidelity related figures for the UK. In 2008, there was 115,200 divorces granted and 29 percent of these divorces were the result of adulterous behavior. According to a Grant Thornton UK Survey (2009), 9 percent of women would cheat on their partner as long as there was no way to be found out. In comparison, 24 percent of men said they would cheat. In the same survey 20 percent of men admitted to having an actual affair where only 10 percent of women did.

In the United Kingdom every month 7 million people visit online dating sites. This is a 27 percent increase over last year, whereas the percentage of the UK population that used the internet only grew by 4 percent.

For more on this story, and to get a couple of men's and one woman's experience on Forget Dinner read Times Online.