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Preference Versus Choice in Online Dating.

Stephen Whyte¹, Benno Torgler^1,2

¹1 School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane, Australia .

Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking

|March 7, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Online daters

Keywords:

Internet dating characteristics choice human mating preferences

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Sociology
Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

Online dating platforms facilitate the collection of data on user preferences and behaviors.
Understanding the discrepancy between stated partner preferences and actual choices is crucial for social science research.
The internet has significantly impacted human mating patterns and decision-making processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate factors influencing the alignment between online daters' stated partner preferences and the characteristics of individuals they contact.
To compare stated preferences with actual partner choices in the context of online dating.
To analyze the impact of demographics and personality on partner selection in online environments.

Main Methods:

Analysis of 219,013 contact decisions from the Australian dating website RSVP.
Multivariate analysis to quantify the number of matched variables between stated preferences and contacted individuals.
Examination of demographic factors (age, education) and personality traits (socialness) influencing contact decisions.

Main Results:

Age, education level, and social personality positively correlate with the number of matched characteristics in contacted partners.
Males tend to match fewer characteristics compared to females when initiating contact.
Older males (late 60s) exhibit increased selectivity in partner choices compared to females of the same age group.

Conclusions:

Online dating behavior reveals a complex interplay between stated desires and actual choices.
Demographic and personality factors significantly shape partner selection dynamics online.
This research contributes to understanding human mating patterns and decision-making within technologically mediated social settings.