But what if you're not hot? Investigating impression formation in online dating

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Goode ◽  
JoAndrea Hoegg
2021 ◽  
pp. 009365022199531
Author(s):  
Tess van der Zanden ◽  
Maria B. J. Mos ◽  
Alexander P. Schouten ◽  
Emiel J. Krahmer

This study investigates how online dating profiles, consisting of both pictures and texts, are visually processed, and how both components affect impression formation. The attractiveness of the profile picture was varied systematically, and texts either included language errors or not. By collecting eye tracking and perception data, we investigated whether picture attractiveness determines attention to the profile text and if the text plays a secondary role. Eye tracking results revealed that pictures are more likely to attract initial attention and that more attractive pictures receive more attention. Texts received attention regardless of the picture’s attractiveness. Moreover, perception data showed that both the pictorial and textual cues affect impression formation, but that they affect different dimensions of perceived attraction differently. Based on our results, a new multimodal information processing model is proposed, which suggests that pictures and texts are processed independently and lead to separate assessments of cue attractiveness before impression formation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 758-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Van der Zanden ◽  
Alexander P. Schouten ◽  
Maria B. J. Mos ◽  
Emiel J. Krahmer

This article presents two experimental studies investigating the impact of language errors in online dating profiles on impression formation. A first study examined whether language errors have a negative effect on perceptions of attraction and dating intention and whether this effect is moderated by the presence of visual information, that is, the profile picture. This 2 (Language Errors/No Language Errors) × 2 (Visible/Blurred Picture) experiment revealed that language errors negatively affect perceptions of social and romantic attraction and that a visible picture on a profile positively affects perceptions of physical attraction. Study 2 focused on mechanical, rule-based, and informal language errors, which can each be attributed to different personality traits. Mechanical and rule-based errors lead to lower scores on, respectively, perceived attentiveness and intelligence, which in turn lead to lower attraction and dating intention scores. These results highlight the importance of error-free language use as a cue for attractiveness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 200-231
Author(s):  
Hanna Karpova

Phenomenon of social dating: strategies of self-presentation In recent years, the use of online dating platforms has evolved from a marginal to a widespread social practice. The online dating arena provides an opportunity to investigate changing cultural norms concerning technology-mediated relationship formation and to shed light on such aspects of online behavior as the impression formation process and self-presentation strategies. A field experiment was focused on self-presentation strategies and tactics among online dating participants, investigating how participants' sex effects on managing their online presentation of self in order to accomplish the goal of enhancing their level of attractiveness. After conducting a pilot study, was collected 200 text-based profiles (100 women, 100 men) from the online dating service “Sympatia.pl” and examined through them with respect to strategies type.


2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 1270-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Alves

People like others who share their attitudes. Online dating platforms as well as other social media platforms regularly rely on the social bonding power of their users’ shared attitudes. However, little is known about moderating variables. In the present work, I argue that sharing rare compared with sharing common attitudes should evoke stronger interpersonal attraction among people. In five studies, I tested this prediction for the case of shared interests from different domains. I found converging evidence that people’s rare compared with their common interests are especially potent to elicit interpersonal attraction. I discuss the current framework’s theoretical implications for impression formation and impression management as well as its practical implications for improving online dating services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 875-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Tom Tong ◽  
Elena F Corriero ◽  
Kunto Adi Wibowo ◽  
Taj W Makki ◽  
Richard B Slatcher

In online dating, the self-authored profile serves as the primary way for daters to introduce themselves to others and to learn more about potential partners. However, few studies have examined the extent to which daters’ self-authored profile content is consistent with the impressions that others actually form. This study applied the Brunswikian lens model (1956) to examine self-presentation and impression formation in the text-based “about me” portion of the online dating profile. Using the meaning extraction method, we analyzed 190 profiles. Consistent with the lexical approach to personality, daters were able to encode aspects of themselves through linguistic self-description (cue validity), and observers were able to decode profile information to form impressions (cue utilization). However, there were few significant associations between a dater’s self-presentation and observers’ judgments (functional achievement). Findings are interpreted in line with previous work examining self-presentation and impressions in online dating profiles.


Author(s):  
David Weibel ◽  
Daniel Stricker ◽  
Bartholomäus Wissmath ◽  
Fred W. Mast

Like in the real world, the first impression a person leaves in a computer-mediated environment depends on his or her online appearance. The present study manipulates an avatar’s pupil size, eyeblink frequency, and the viewing angle to investigate whether nonverbal visual characteristics are responsible for the impression made. We assessed how participants (N = 56) evaluate these avatars in terms of different attributes. The findings show that avatars with large pupils and slow eye blink frequency are perceived as more sociable and more attractive. Compared to avatars seen in full frontal view or from above, avatars seen from below were rated as most sociable, self-confident, and attractive. Moreover, avatars’ pupil size and eyeblink frequency escape the viewer’s conscious perception but still influence how people evaluate them. The findings have wide-ranging applied implications for avatar design.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne Nauts ◽  
Oliver Langner ◽  
Inge Huijsmans ◽  
Roos Vonk ◽  
Daniël H. J. Wigboldus

Asch’s seminal research on “Forming Impressions of Personality” (1946) has widely been cited as providing evidence for a primacy-of-warmth effect, suggesting that warmth-related judgments have a stronger influence on impressions of personality than competence-related judgments (e.g., Fiske, Cuddy, & Glick, 2007 ; Wojciszke, 2005 ). Because this effect does not fit with Asch’s Gestalt-view on impression formation and does not readily follow from the data presented in his original paper, the goal of the present study was to critically examine and replicate the studies of Asch’s paper that are most relevant to the primacy-of-warmth effect. We found no evidence for a primacy-of-warmth effect. Instead, the role of warmth was highly context-dependent, and competence was at least as important in shaping impressions as warmth.


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