The world of online dating can be overwhelming with the dizzying array of options for attracting a partner, but new research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that those looking for love may have more success if they also seek a sense of purpose in life.
Researcher Isabella D’Ottone, in the lab of Patrick Hill, PhD, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences, published a study about how that sense of purpose can affect how others may rate dating app profiles. Those whose profiles show a sense of purpose were rated higher on various scales for attractiveness compared with profiles that indicated no sense of purpose.
“In general, we found people with a higher purpose were considered to be more romantically attractive,” said Isabella D’Ottone, co-author of the study, with Hill and Gabrielle Pfund, that was published in the International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology.
D’Ottone, who completed the research as an undergraduate in Hill’s lab, did the study to build on Pfund’s previous research on how a sense of purpose also aligns with maintaining better long-term relationships. D’Ottone earned a bachelor’s degree and Pfund a PhD from WashU, both in 2022.
For this study, they focused on four categories of “sense of purpose” and created four dating profiles to match each category, along with five control profiles that indicated no sense of purpose. The researchers set up a study with 119 participants, who each read and ranked the nine fake profiles on various measures of attractiveness.