Men really are 'punching' on dating apps! Blokes pursue women who are more attractive than themselves, study confirms

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Ladies - if it feels pretty bleak on the dating apps at the moment, scientists might have worked out the reason why.
An analysis of online dating sites has revealed that men tend to 'punch' above their attractiveness level when it comes to swipes.
Researchers discovered that overall, successful matches were more likely to occur between people with similar levels of desirability.
But this means that men have likely ended up settling for someone who they were initially less interested in - after being rejected by more attractive options.
'Women nominate on average slightly less desirable mates, and men send ties (swipes) to women who are on average considerably more desirable than themselves,' the researchers wrote in the journal Plos One.
'Our research…shows that while men often aim high when choosing whom to contact, successful matches tend to happen between people with similar levels of desirability.
'This pattern is largely the result of rejection, rather than an initial preference for similarity.'
The findings could shed some light on the success of certain male celebrities including Jay Z, Barry Keoghan and Pete Davidson - all of whom have dated women that many consider to be more attractive than them.
The research was carried out by a team from the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich, in Germany, and the University of Manchester.
For their study, the team analysed data on nearly 3,000 heterosexual users of a Czech dating app, including swipes and desirability.
Desirability was calculated by working out who received the most swipes.
Women tended to rank more highly in this hierarchy, they discovered, largely because the app had many more male users than female ones.
Overall, they found that men were more likely to pursue women who ranked as more desirable than them.
'Men tend to send ties (swipes) to women who are on average considerably more desirable than themselves,' the team wrote.
'All these findings together point toward the presence of aspirational pursuit among men, but not among women.'
The analysis also revealed a huge discrepancy between how many swipes a person received, with certain individuals receiving triple the average amount of swipes.
While some users sent almost no swipes, some were highly active when searching for a partner.
The researchers said women's willingness to 'partner down' should be taken with a 'grain of salt' due to the low variability in how desirable men were.
Previous research has suggested that married couples often share similar characteristics - such as age, ethnicity or political ideology.
Scientists have also found that men and women are good at judging their own attractiveness, and tend to marry people who are similarly attractive.
This suggests people largely date and marry people in our own 'league' - as far as beauty is concerned - experts from the University of Florida said.
HOW CAN YOU CHECK IF YOU ARE BEING CATFISHED?
Dating apps and online websites are plagued with fraudulent profiles, known as 'catfishes'.
'Catfishing' originated as a term for the process of luring people into false relationships, however, it has also come to encompass people giving out false information about themselves more generally.
These profiles often use images of another person to allow users to pretend to be someone else in order to get a date, or scam money from a lonelyheart.
Fortunately, there are certain ways to check if these profiles are real people or if they are bogus accounts —
1. Google reverse image search
This is probably the most valuable tool for catching out a catfish and can be done via Google.
To kickstart the process, people need only right-click the photos that are arousing their suspcions, copy the URL and paste it into images.google.com.
The search engine will search to see if the image has been used elsewhere.
If you find the picture associated with a different person to the one you're speaking to on your dating app, it's likely you've met a catfish!
2. Use an app called Veracity
It is useful for dating sites such as Tinder, Bumble and Grindr as it allows images from Dropbox or Camera roll (or similar) to be cross-referenced against any matching results.
Load the app, then select a screenshot of the suspicious dating app profile from your camera roll to launch the search.
The app will tell you if the picture belongs to somebody else.
3. Check their Facebook
Almost everyone who has a profile on a dating site will have a Facebook account (most dating apps require users to have one, after all!) so it is always advisable to track down your potential suitor on other forms of social media.
4. Google them
Google and other search engines have an extensive repertoire and most people will crop up in a search.
In this day and age, it's unusual for someone to have nothing on Google.
Have a search through for them or their relatives, things they've said or posted in the past. If there's nothing, that should raise alarm bells.
For prospective romantic engagements, seeing the face of someone you are virtually talking to is essential.
6. Money
This is probably a scam and should provide immediate red flags.