Scientists have identified one detail that significantly increases attention to your dating app profile

Photo: Luis Alvarez / Getty Images

The publication's journalists draw attention to the research by Israeli psychologist Gurit Birnbaum. Along with her colleague, she studied which dating profiles truly generate interest.

The research hypothesis came from marketing. It's long been known there that advertising which evokes emotions and draws people into a story works better than dry facts. Scientists decided to test whether the same principle applies to the dating market — a space where people are often perceived superficially and judged by appearance.

How the study was conducted

Nearly 600 people participated in three experiments — roughly equal numbers of men and women. All of them first created their own profiles to be in a realistic situation, and then evaluated others'. The main thing that interested the researchers was the level of empathy: how much the participants felt a connection with the person behind the profile.

In the first experiment, 131 students read two versions of a fictional dating profile. Both contained absolutely identical information. However, while the first simply listed hobbies, profession, and travel experience, in the second, the same facts were woven into a story with a beginning, a turning point, and an end.

The factual profile of the fictional "Dan" looked like this: "My life began in the world of art. Already in childhood, I learned to play the guitar. My first guitar was a gift from my grandfather. After school, I went with friends to South America. This trip was long and unforgettable. Today I am an economics student and simultaneously work in high technology. In my free time, I jog, and at the end of the day, I drink a glass of wine and play the guitar."

Dan's profile in story form: "As long as I can remember, I've lived for art. My grandfather believed that music connects people, and when I was seven, he gave me a guitar, which became an integral part of me. After school, I flew with friends to South America. Honest conversations with local residents taught me to appreciate what is truly important in life. Eventually, I had to decide whether to stay in art or choose a new direction. I won't keep you in suspense: today I am an economics student and work in high technology. But don't worry, the guitar is still with me."

In the second experiment involving 130 people, attention was paid to photographs. One group was shown a series of pictures depicting "a day in the life": sports in the morning, cooking at noon, meeting friends in the evening. The photos were interconnected and filled with context. The second group saw the same fictional person, but in neutral, unconnected situations, for example, in a park or on the street.

In the third experiment (with 333 participants), text and images were combined. Researchers compared four variants: both text and photos in story form; narrative text only; photos only, combined into a plot; and neutral and factual text and photos.

Results

The experiments showed: whoever read or saw a story felt more empathy for the person. And this reliably predicted whether someone would develop romantic interest. The combination of narrative text and narrative images created the strongest emotional connection and the greatest interest.

Researchers describe empathy as a crucial psychological mechanism, an emotional bridge between perceiving a person and the desire to get to know them. They call this "narrative transportation" — the feeling of immersion in another person's world even before you've exchanged a single word.

In the case of the second "Dan," there arises a feeling that you already know him a little. His mini-story creates a film in your head and does what a list of facts cannot: it overcomes the typical barriers of online dating — fear of rejection, distrust of other people's profiles.

So what to do?

What does this mean for people looking for a match on Tinder, or Zorki?

"We are captivated by stories, but we write our dating profiles like shopping lists," says Birnbaum.

According to the researcher, it's not height or ambition that makes someone captivated by another. It's important to feel the person behind these details, and this is impossible if the information is presented as short bullet points.

Researchers recommend moving away from the template – a bulleted list of appearance, work, hobbies. Instead, try to build a coherent story: why you do something, how you got into it, what attracts you to it. Even within 150, 300, or 500 characters, you can fit mini-stories.

Not just "I love to travel," but how and why it became important. Not just "I play the guitar," but where it came into your life. It is precisely these details that allow you to go beyond a standard profile.

Birnbaum also sees in her findings an answer to a problem many know: swipe fatigue. When all profiles look the same, people start to perceive each other as interchangeable objects. Stories, however, restore the feeling that you are encountering a living person.

However, the authors note that their results have limitations. The study involved mostly young students, predominantly heterosexual. Therefore, it is not certain that the results are fully transferable to other age or social groups. Furthermore, the experiments were conducted not in real apps, but in simulated conditions. It is also unclear whether a "story in the profile" guarantees happier long-term relationships.

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