Men, women equal in assessing romantic interest

A new speed-dating study shows men and women are equal when it comes to assessing each other’s romantic interests.

Skyler Place, a doctoral student in the IU psychology and brain sciences department, along with cognitive science professor Peter Todd, published the study in the January issue of the Psychological Science journal.

“Our goal was to see if observers of a date could predict romantic interest between others,” Place said.

He said 28 women and 26 men, all IU students, participated in the study and watched 10- and 30-second video clips of people in Germany interacting on speed dates.

The daters all spoke German, and Place said the testers were screened to make sure they did not speak German. This meant participants could only consider body language when assessing the couples.

Altogether, the students watched 24 videos, Place said. After each video, the students were asked if they thought the man was interested in the woman and if the woman was interested in the man.

“The biggest finding was that there was no difference between men and women being able to judge romantic interest,” Place said.

Researchers expected women to have the leg up in judging romantic interests, but Place’s and Todd’s study found no such advantage. Although there was no difference between men’s and women’s ability to judge interest, Place said men were easier to predict than women on average.

Researchers were not the only ones who suspected women to be better. Freshman Katy Deardorff said she also thought women would have the advantage.

“I do think it is an interesting study, though,” Deardorff said. “I think it does show how guys, I think, can wear their emotions on their sleeves, which a lot of people don’t really think about.”

Todd, who started the research program, said design for the study started in fall 2006.
The actual data-gathering began spring 2007. From designing to testing and studying to publishing, the study took about two and a half years.

“The length of time it takes to complete the study is fairly common,” Place said.
When starting the study, Place and Todd were able to access stimuli – the videos – which they said was a unique opportunity. Place said this study necessitates a controlled environment.

“You can’t march people into a bar and say, ‘OK, you watch them, and you watch them,’” he said.

The information they obtained from this study is now being used for their new study. That study, Place said, focuses on how people’s observations of others affect their choice in a mate.

He said there are certain birds and fish that watch others of their species, see what they are picking in a mate and base their decision on those observations. The tests currently underway aim to judge whether humans act the same way in choosing their mates.

With his current study to be finished within the next year, Place said he is thinking of possible studies to further his ideas.

“It might be possible to have Germans watch the videos and see if understanding the language changes the results,” he said.