dating study
These 2 factors decide whether something will come of a relationship
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The first date was great, but you’re unsure if you’ll see each other again – and if more will come of it? According to a study, there are two main factors.
The early days of a relationship are often the most exciting: you get to know each other, sniff each other out, weigh things up. Could this turn into a relationship? Does this person really suit me – is he maybe even my soul mate?
But what exactly do we tie these things to? Which aspects determine whether a good date or two turns into a solid partnership – or at least there is the potential for it? A research team from the USA investigated precisely these questions.
Study: When you get to know each other, these two things are decisive
In a big study The researchers from the University of California examined which factors lead to meeting again after the first date and possibly even becoming more of it. To do this, the team sent a total of 550 participants on 6,600 speed dates and interviewed them afterwards. The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Above all, based on the two factors of popularity and compatibility, it is apparently decided whether we want to see a person again after the first date and whether we can even imagine a relationship with them. Popularity is all about attractiveness and how successful the person is professionally. Based on this, we intuitively estimate how popular our date is – we check his “market value” so to speak – and thus how good we find him:her.
Dating: First impressions count
The second important thing we judge on a first date is how compatible we are with our partner. So: Do we have similar values and ideas about how we want to shape our lives? But it also plays a role whether we have a similar sense of humor, for example.
If these two factors, popularity and compatibility, intuitively match, this is usually at least a good basis for us to imagine a second or third date and to get to know the person further. And ideally, it might even become a relationship.
Sources used: psychologytoday.com, pnas.org