Women not as picky of daters as thought

June 6, 3:47 PMDallas Dating ExaminerLeah Shafer

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Picky, picky, picky.

I’ve heard that more than a once when it comes to my dating choices. And women in general are considered way choosy when it comes to finding a mate. A lot of research supports this.

In a soon-to-be-released study from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, authors Eli J. Finkel and Paul W. Eastwick from Northwestern University, say women might not be as different as we think.

Finkel and Eastwick had 350 undergraduates on a speed-dating experiment where they threw a twist into the usual “sit sown, say hi, move on” formula of speed dating.

They found that the act of being the person approaching the date, as opposed to being approached, makes a huge difference in how we think about that person romantically.

Each “date” lasted four minutes and in half the events, the women were the ones doing the approaching of the men seated at the table (a very rare thing at speed dating evenings). The participants then rated their level of attraction to the people they met.

When the women rotated from table to table, they became less selective and those seated guys became pickier.

In fact, both the men and women had greater romantic desire for and chemistry when they were the ones doing the approaching, compared to the sitters.

“The results suggest a fascinating alternative explanation for the sex difference in romantic selectivity,” said Finkel. “They suggest that this difference may be due to the roles men and women play in the opening seconds of new romantic contacts, with the physical act of who approaches whom. The mere act of physically approaching a potential partner seems to increase your desire for that partner.”

So are they saying that taking the lead in romantic encounters makes you more confident? Yep. And that confidence, along with a few other factors, leads to more romantic attraction. Who knew?