Online Dating? You Might as Well Look for Love in a Bar [STUDY]

Online dating sites frequently trumpet their ability to corral the most compatible fish in your sea through sophisticated algorithms. But a psychological study released this week says that you may be better off doing it the old-fashioned way and just meeting a stranger at a bar.

A team commissioned by the Association of Psychological Science says that the algorithms employed by sites such as eHarmony, Match.com and OKCupid don’t do much much to determine whether sparks will fly when they compare people’s interests and personalities, according to a recent Reuters interview with report author Eli Finkel.

“There’s no better way to figure out whether you’re compatible with somebody than talking to them over a cup of coffee or a pint of beer,” said Finkel, an associate professor at Northwestern University.

Finkel and his team found that the massive databases of potential matches don’t reveal enough about the people behind the profiles. And the sheer volume of options can overwhelm users to the point of “shutting down” and making poor decisions because of too many choices, according to Finkel, who compared the situation to shoppers at an overstocked supermarket.

“Eighty years of relationship science has reliably shown you can’t predict whether a relationship succeeds based on information about people who are unaware of each other,” Finkel told Reuters.

The researchers did not have access to the algorithms themselves, but Finkel scoffed at the accuracy of websites’ studies of their own success.

“The assumption is that they work,” he said. “We reviewed the literature and feel safe to conclude they do not.”

Finkel and his team’s research will be published in an upcoming edition of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

Do you think that online services have value in the dating game? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.





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Via: Mashable