So we are all doing this wrong on our dating profile
According to science, these photos work best
A struggle for all online daters: which photos do you put on your profile? A photo with your friends to show that you are social. One of just you, because yes, that's what it's about. And maybe another vacation picture on the beach to make it a little sexy. What will help you find that perfect match? Good news: experts have researched what people pay attention to when viewing a profile. This way you know exactly which photos you should use.
It’s all about the face
What is the most important thing? It’s really your face. Both men and women primarily look there, it doesn't matter what else is visible in the photo. Participants in the study from the ‘Archives of Sexual Behavior’ spent 83 percent of their viewing time studying the face. So you can post a nice bikini photo or for men one without a shirt, but in the end, that won't hold attention. Just a nice photo where your face is clearly visible works much better.
Big differences
Not very surprising perhaps, but men and women pay attention to very different things in a profile. Men primarily focus on appearance and most on the face; extra information such as someone's job or hobbies is less important. Except when they find a woman a bit less attractive, then those personal facts suddenly become interesting. For women, the attention was a bit more divided. They also looked a lot at faces, but spent more time on the extra information about potential dates. In profiles with a ‘less good’ job, attention shifted more back to appearance. What you are specifically looking for varies from person to person. However, there seems to be a pattern in that as well. Generally, men are more looking for something short-term, while women prefer something long-term.
Quick judgments
What we think of a dating profile, by the way, we decide very quickly. According to the research, we already know after 10 seconds whether we find someone interesting or not and which way we want to swipe.
So, the good news; you don't have to suck in your stomach for that photo anymore.
