By Tony EvansThe Daily Northwesterb
Graduate student Paul Eastwick and psychology professor Eli Finkel have finally shed some light on the curious dating habits of the Northwestern student.
In 2005, they conducted a speed dating study using NU students as participants. The findings of their study show that it’s better to be picky than overeager when looking for a date.
The design of their study was simple: Eastwick and Finkel recruited a group of NU students and observed their behavior in a series of four-minute, round robin dates. After each date, the participants took two minutes to fill out a record evaluating how much they liked their partners. The records measured several factors, including attractiveness, romantic chemistry and whether or not they would like to see that person again.
At the end of the study, the experimenters matched the couples who expressed mutual interest. Then, Eastwick and Finkel began the long and complicated task of data analysis. Nearly two years later, some of the early results of their study are ready for publication.
The researchers found that students expressed two different “flavors” of romantic desire – unique and general.
Unique desire is when a subject shows exceptional interest in a partner. Unique desire was correlated with reciprocal liking. In other words, the daters who expressed unique desire were more likely to be liked back by that partner. They were also likely to report stronger romantic chemistry. When participants were more selective with their affections, they were more likely to be successful with the partners they liked most.
General desire is when subjects express strong romantic interest averaged across all of their partners. This general romantic desire was negatively correlated with reciprocal liking and romantic chemistry. Overeager subjects were less likely to meet a partner who would like them back. The study suggests that the subjects who showed too much general desire appeared desperate and undesirable.
Generalized desire was important in speed dating interactions, but there were still many other factors that influenced the speed daters.
Speed dating is a phenomenon that remains popular among young professionals and has attracted growing interest from social psychologists. A 2006 speed dating study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics found that men are interested in physical attractiveness, while women are more attracted to intelligence.
The NU study has generated attention in academic circles and the media. Eastwick even appeared on a Fox News interview, appropriately titled “Don’t Beg for It!”
The results of the study provide fresh insight into the workings of romantic attraction. Its advice to hopeful singles is obvious, but worth repeating: Express interest when it’s genuine, but try not to act so desperate.
Weinberg senior Tony Evans can be reached at [email protected].
