Studies

When it comes to choosing that perfect partner, some people are more flexible than others. We all have a dealbreaker or two, but some folks are straight-up close-minded about their love lives. For their latest study, Zoosk decided to identify where the most open-minded daters in America live. For the purposes of the study, “open-mindedness” refered specifically to how willing the person is to date someone different from himself or herself.

After using “advanced data technology” to analyze nearly 1,000,000 “deep conversations” (defined as communications that included two or more exchanged messages) between users, Zoosk handed the info over to their “brilliant data nerds” for interpretation. The top 10 most open-minded cities for dating are:

1. Las Vegas, Nevada
2. Detroit, Michigan
3. Columbus, Ohio
4. Sacramento, California
5. San Antonio, Texas
6. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
7. Indianapolis, Indiana
8. Jacksonville, Florida
9. Nashville, Tennessee
10. Memphis, Tennessee

And the top 10 least open-minded cities for dating are:

1. Raleigh, North Carolina
2. San Jose, California
3. Birmingham, Alabama
4. Richmond, Virginia
5. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
6. Washington DC
7. San Diego, California
8. Atlanta, Georgia
9. Riverside, California
10. Orlando, Florida

Some cities that didn't score well for open-mindedness overall also ranked on specific dating criteria:

• The most open-minded daters when it comes to height are found in New Orleans. The least open-minded are in Salt Lake City, UT and Richmond, VA.
• When it comes to age, the most open-minded men are located in Seattle and the most open-minded women live in Indianapolis. The least open-minded men and women are found in Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA.
• Prior marriages are looked down upon in Hartford, CT and Cincinnati, OH, but daters in Salt Lake City and Vegas are unlikely to care about the ups and downs of your marital history.
• Religion isn’t a big deal in California, where men in San Francisco and women in San Jose were rated the most open-minded. In Alabama, on the other hand, faith is extremely important. Birmingham is the most close-minded city for both men and women.
• They like ‘em educated in North Carolina and California. Men and women who call Raleigh and San Jose home are the least flexible about college degrees. In Salt Lake City, on the other hand, college degrees aren't deal breakers for either men or women.
• Body conscious? Then move to San Antonio or Oklahoma City, where citizens are most open-minded about body type. Steer clear of Louisville, KY, the least body type-tolerant city in the country, unless you're super fit.
• Beware of your vices. Smoking is most acceptable in Columbus, OH and Buffalo, NY and least acceptable in Miami and San Jose. Drinking is most acceptable in Providence, RI and least acceptable in San Jose in Salt Lake City.

See the infographic here. To find out more about the dating site which brought us these statistics you can read our Zoosk review.

Do you consider yourself an open-minded dater? If you live in L.A. or New York your potential dates are not as open-minded as you might assume. In fact, Las Vegas is the number one city for daters who are more receptive to others who don't share the same beliefs - not the coastal cities.

Dating website Zoosk looked at a sample of about a million of its members to see what regions in the U.S. had the most open-minded daters. The site looked at members’ willingness to date someone with different viewpoints on important topics such as children, religion, previous marriages, and education – and unveiled that coastal and generally forward-thinking cities aren’t as open-minded when it comes to who they will date.

Cities in the heartland - Las Vegas Nevada, Detroit Michigan and Columbus Ohio - made the top three on the list of cities with the most open-minded daters. Rounding out the bottom, where you’ll find the least open-minded daters, was Raleigh North Carolina, San Jose California, and Birmingham Alabama.

In addition to overall open-mindedness, the study looked at the breakdown of different topics that are important subjects for daters, such as religion. They found that singles in San Jose, California are the most open-minded about dating someone outside of their religion, while singles in Birmingham, Alabama are the least open-minded.

Educational disparity can be a deal-breaker for some daters. Salt Lake City, Utah has the highest concentration of singles willing to date someone with a different level of education, while singles in San Jose, California predominantly look for a partner with the same level of education.

And what about those who have been married before? Would you be willing to date someone who’s divorced? As it turns out, singles in Salt Lake City, Utah are most open to dating someone who was previously married, while singles in Hartford, Connecticut are least likely to consider the option.

Body type can be a concern for daters, too. San Antonio, Texas has the highest concentration of singles willing to date someone with a different body type than their own, while singles in Louisville, Kentucky largely look for a partner with a similar physique.

And what about smoking and drinking habits? Singles who reside in Nashville, Tennessee are most open to dating someone who has different smoking habits, while singles in Miami, Florida are least likely to do so. Providence, Rhode Island singles are most open to dating someone whose drinking habits differ from their own, unlike singles in San Jose, California who are not.

How important is sex in your relationship? Is it a deal-breaker if you and your partner don’t see eye-to-eye in the bedroom? According to a recent poll, nearly a third of Americans say if they didn’t have a good sex life with their partner, it would cause them to break off the relationship.

The study was conducted by website DatingAdvice.com, which surveyed 1,080 respondents over the course of three weeks, balancing the data to accurately represent the U.S. population.

Men are definitely more invested in a good sex life than women, with 33% saying they would end a relationship over unsatisfactory sex, compared to only 22% of women.

In addition to gender, the study broke down the data according to marital status, sexual preference, race, age, income, and geographic location.

Divorced people were more likely to respond in the affirmative than those who were still married. More than one in three divorcees said they would leave relationships that provided unsatisfying sex whereas only one in five married respondents did.

Gay men and lesbian women were 50 percent more likely to leave a sexually unsatisfying relationship than straight men and women – higher than any other group. Thirty-eight percent of African-American men and women would discontinue a relationship if they weren’t happy in the bedroom, which is three times the rate of Asian-American men and women.

In terms of age, older people were more likely to choose to stay in the relationship (24% ages 65 and older) compared to their younger counterparts. Interestingly, those ages 35-44 were the most likely to leave the relationship at 32%, compared to those aged 18-24 at 29% and 25-34 at 27%.

Geographic location doesn’t seem to play a role in how people feel, with the Northeast, Midwest, West and South about equally comfortable with the idea of breaking up with a partner over unsatisfying sex. Income however, does seem to influence the decision, with those earning $125,000 or more (about 21%) finding it more difficult to break up over an unsatisfying sex life compared with those earning less (averaging about 30%).

Gina Stewart, a Dating Advice expert, said sex is a crucially important component of a relationship to many Americans. “While some think satisfying sex between two lovers can be developed, others believe sexual chemistry either exists or it doesn’t,” she said. “This study mirrors those attitudes, with a significant portion of people either unwilling to work at an unsatisfying sex life or believing such a relationship is doomed.”

Recent studies have shown that while most people prefer one-on-one dates, a small but growing number of Americans are more interested in group dating, even for a first date. Perhaps because it takes some of the initial pressure off of keeping conversation flowing, or maybe because you can meet more than one potential single guy if you go with a dating site like Grouper.

But could there be another benefit of group dating for those already in relationships?

According to a recent study reported by DatingAdvice.com, double dating could actually help improve your relationship and connection with your partner.

The study was conducted by Richard Slatcher, an assistant psychology professor from Wayne State University. Slatcher recruited 150 couples for his research, all of whom were either dating or married for at least a year. They split the couples into two groups for two similar studies.

Double dates were conducted in the lab between couples who did not know each other prior to the experiment. The couples were given relationship questionnaires both before and after each date.

The questionnaires served a double purpose for the dates – in addition to Slatcher and his team collecting information for the study, they provided open-ended questions to spark conversation during the date. “What was the most embarrassing moment in your life?” and “What is your idea of a perfect day?” were two examples given.

“Opening up about your thoughts and feelings can increase feelings of passionate love,” Slatcher said. “When you and your partner are opening up to this other couple, the extent to which the other couple really responds to you in a way that conveys understanding and is really validating of you increases your feelings of passionate love toward your own partner.”

In other words, couples tended to feel validated about their own thoughts, beliefs, and form a deeper level of connection when talking about these things with another couple.

And maybe, you find out new things about your partner when you're in a group setting sharing life stories and ambitions, compared to a typical night of having dinner with your SO and talking about what happened at work that day.

So, if you’re in a relationship it seems that group dating might actually help break the ice with your partner, at least in terms of having a connection and memorable conversation, rather than if it was just the two of you.

The study will be discussed at a gathering in Austin, Texas at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

A lot of people love online dating because of its convenience. It's hard to beat being able to scan through potential matches from the comfort of your own home, entirely at your leisure. Traditional dating can be found, but it can also be a huge time suck. Sometimes all you want is an efficient way to weed out the frogs from the princes (and princesses).

Online daters already know that dating websites are a great way to save time, but it turns out they're also a great way to save money. Couples who meet online tend to marry after a shorter period of time than couples who meet in real life, meaning that a courtship that begins via the Internet ends up being thousands of dollars cheaper than meeting and wooing someone offline.

According to market strategists at New York City-based ConvergEx Group, the average dating period prior to marriage for a couple who met in real life is approximately 42 months. Let's do some math: if that couple goes on one date per week, and that date costs around $130 (for food, drinks, entertainment tickets, etc.), then the total cost of that couple's courtship would be around $23,660.

The average time between meeting and marriage for couples who meet online, on the other hand, runs around 18.5 months. The average dating site customer spends $239 a year for online memberships, according to ConvergEx Group, and if we assume that the amount spent on dates is the same, an online dater saves $12,803 in comparison to an offline dater.

And what if the dates go Dutch? In that case, each online dater saves just over $6400. Not too shabby at all!

But, just because it's more acceptable, easier, and less expensive for people to meet online doesn't mean more US citizens are using dating sites to meet marriage partners. According to the Pew Research Center, only 51% of Americans were married in 2011 – a significant drop from the 72% who were married in 1960 – and the numbers are continuing to decline.

ConvergEx suggests that the trend could be in reaction to the high divorce rates seen throughout the 1970s and 80s. “Seeing their parents and/or friends’ parents go through a divorce has made today’s young people more cautious when it comes to finding a mate,” they say.

Many more of today's young people are putting their careers had of relationships, making them less reliant on a spouse for support and possibly also contributing to the decline in marriage. Marriage rates are reportedly also dropping faster among people with less education. "Declining marriage rates among those with lower levels of educational attainment is a warning sign that is worth watching," says ConvergEx, "especially if the trend continues."

The results are in from Match.com and their annual Singles in America survey, and it seems that people are still looking for happily ever after when it comes to relationships.

Match.com surveyed over 5,000 singles to find out what they think about dating, love, sex and relationships today. The biggest find? Technology is changing how we meet each other and also how we date. The majority of singles met their last date online (31%) rather than through a friend (only 25%). Also, 29% of singles use video chat to communicate with a date. It turns out they want to see if there is a little virtual chemistry before they agree to meet in person.

It's no surprise however that women are pickier daters than men. The study found that the majority of men will date a woman who is more successful and makes more money than they do, or is more educated. However, the majority of women won't date a man who is less intellectual or shorter than they are.

What about turn-offs? Most singles judge their dates by how confident they are and by their teeth. It's also a turn-off if a potential date has bad grammar or uses text speak when sending an email. Most daters prefer someone who comes across as more educated.

A bit of advice for men: no sexy selfies! This is the number one turn-off for women. And for the guys? Don't text so often, ladies. If he doesn't respond, avoid sending two or three more texts to get his attention. This is the number one turn-off for guys.

Social media is another sticking point as far as turn-offs go. Avoid airing your dirty laundry and venting over Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms. It is the number one social media turn-off for both sexes!

Another big take-away from the study: be kind and respectful. One hundred percent of women and 98% of men value being treated with respect in a relationship and make it their number one priority. In addition, a whopping 97% of singles are turned off when a date is rude to the waitstaff at a restaurant and 96% are turned off by bad table manners. So mind your manners!

The best news? People are still romantics. Eighty-nine percent of singles surveyed agree that you can live happily ever after with a partner. And despite how much people seem to be hooking up, and the majority of singles are looking for commitment and want to get married.

For more information on the service that brought us this study you can read our review of Match.com.