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Last night I came across a PBS show about relationships and immediately got hooked when they started computer modeling the “perfect” man and woman based on what each test subject thought physically desirable. Face morphing software was remarkable. Masculine male faces preferred feminine female faces and vice versa.
I enjoy the scientific side of matchmaking, although I’m not talking about personality tests. Facial chemistry, pheromones and voice recognition are all interesting ways to ascertain the relevance of a potential partner.
Watching people build the perfect date on a computer screen was entertaining. Watching guys inflate women to double-D proportion was expected but most fascinating was listening to the scientists talk about why people choose specific facial structures and body types.
The most entertaining part was the stubborn woman (Beth) who kept on steamrolling over all the men. They followed her through the entire process, and things got even better when they put together a scientific 3-minute speed-dating event.
It made you feel sorry for people unwilling to be flexible when it comes to finding their match.
Each speed dater had a dial where they continiously rate the person across the table. At first, they are instructed to sit in silence across from each other and start the rating process. Ratings were projected on monitors out of view of the participants, like when political operatives measure the response to certain parts of a speech.
It turns out The Scientific Dating Agency’s experiments were a failure to begin with but it’s early days for this type of research. There are simply too many variables to keep track of to come up with consistent results. For example, they talked about people with similar faces finding each other more appropriate, although this premise ended up failing miserably.
The London Seduction Society was there to throw some chaos into the situation. LSS members made the women feel less than themselves, and got called out for this. Instead, we learn it’s important to make the woman feel better than the man (paraphrased).
The woman who got 10 dates out of the event simply said to listen and compliment guys.
I missed the beginning, the CQ tests?
What worked was measuring instant attraction. Immediate chemical attraction most important. Not the face, but the body.
Waist to hip ration, reliable indicator of fertility.
Women wanted tall men. Other features not as important. Over 5 foot 11 got 30 dates. Forget the gym, get shoe lifts.
At the end of the show the phrase “attractive does not mean appealing” came to mind.
Any other more serious research shows or documentaries out there worth checking out?
Technorati Tags: science+of+matchmaking
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It turned up that HALF of all women make their minds up within 30 seconds of meeting a man about whether he is potential boyfriend material, according to a study on speed-dating.
The women were on average far quicker at making a decision than the men during some 500 speed dates at an event organised as part of Edinburgh Science Festival.
And while personality variables do play a role in attraction and compatibility, initial chemistry for both men and women is (not surprisingly) guided by physical attarction. However, what constitutes physical attractiveness is very idiosyncratic. Helen Fisher’s research on the neurochemistry of attraction and relationship development is great reading here!
Thx,
James Houran, PhD
Research Psychologist
Online Dating Magazine
men - looking for young fertile women. Things that indicate health such as smooth skin and a good figure are key.
women - looking for a man that has access to resources who can provide when the offspring come. Thus indicators that may suggest an alpha male such as tall, strong, confidence … were often preferred.
Things take on a whole new dimension when you begin to look at things like this. And it also helps to explain why a dating site can get it all right *on paper* and yet there is can be no chemistry. I think culture has shamed us from acknowledging these most primitive of instincts. So, we will tend to focus on things like personality “he makes me laugh” but something just doesn’t feel right unless those uderlying procreative drivers are satisfied….so yeah, its all very interesting.
Secondly, the “scientists” seemed to put little emphasis on identifying matching patterns of physical characteristics and EQ for established and compatible couples - relationships that actually work, and applying those patterns to singles. Instead they asked singles (who have not found a love connection) to describe their preferences. Perhaps those singles continue to search for people who are actually incompatible, which might explains why they remain single.