Members in the Media
From: Los Angeles Times

Online dating secrets, as revealed by math majors

Los Angeles Times:

The reasoning: Compared with women looking away from the camera, those who smiled or made what OkCupid analysts called a “flirty-face” tended to get about 1.5 additional new messages a month. But men who tried an aloof, no-eye-contact strategy got a better response to their emails — about 90% success compared with 60% if they made eye contact in their photos. From the blog: “Maybe women want a little mystery. What is he looking at?”

Our scientists say: “We and other researchers have documented that men interpret a woman’s smile as a signal of sexual interest,” Buss says. “So flirty smiles trigger what we call men’s ‘sexual over-perception bias.'” Or, as McCord puts it, “Flirting works. Duh.”

Read more: Los Angeles Times

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