If you’re on the hunt for a romantic partner these days, chances are you’ll be doing it online – and new research says it’s worth going for someone that you think is out of your league.
The US study, which analysing nearly 187,000 online daters, found straight men and women tended to message people who were on average 25 per cent more attractive than they are (how do they measure this stuff?)
They also sent longer messages to people who were higher on the “desirability” ladder than they were (apparently the more messages, the more desirable).
In a lot of cases, these messages weren’t unanswered (the pain of unrequited texts …)
One in five strike it lucky
But 21 per cent of people who messaged a potential mate considered out of their league did get a reply – so if you spot someone you like, it’s worth trying it on.
That said, if they ask for your help to transfer a sudden windfall out of the country, hit delete.
We are taking these findings with a grain of salt too. The same study also found that for online daters, men’s desirability peaked at 50 while women were done and dusted by the tender age of 18.
Sorry science, I’m only getting better with age.
