According to a new Australian study, on dating sites, women in peak fertility (18-30 years) are much more demanding than men when it comes to their partner’s education level.
As we live today in the golden age of dating sites, what behavior do women and men adopt when choosing a partner on these sites? Is there a difference in attitude depending on gender? These are the questions that an Australian study that appeared on Friday, June 22 in the journal tries to answer. Psychological Science. And from this work emerges a dominant trend: women under 40 are much more demanding than men when it comes to their partner’s education, while the latter become more finicky with age.
To find out “if men and women know what they want” when they visit a dating site, researchers at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia studied the behaviors of 41,000 Australians between the ages of 18 and 80 years on dating sites for four months in 2016. Conclusion: women in peak fertility are more demanding when it comes to education than men: they want a partner either at the same level or at a higher level. “Evolution favors women who are highly selective in choosing their mate, and across cultures women have always used education as an indicator of quality as it offers both social status and intelligence. Two attributes that they are eagerly looking for, ”says Dr. Whyte, lead author of the study.
On the other hand, when they are in their forties, men become more demanding than women when it comes to their partner’s education, until their last breath. Indeed, if women are generally more observant, their needs decrease once the reproductive peak has passed (18-30 years).
Changes depending on the reproductive cycle
“In the past, studies like this have shown a similar or greater interest of women in their partner’s education level, but as our data covers ages ranging from 18 to 80, we were able to see changes. according to the reproductive cycle of life, “comments Dr. Whyte. Also, a study as large as that carried out by the University of Queensland represents “an incredible tool for observing human romantic behavior because it gives us a really telling picture of a group of people of all ages with quite a few choices of partners. uniforms, ”he continues. And to conclude: “Even with the increase of dating sites, economic behavior and human psychology are used a lot to understand how human beings operate when it comes to choosing a partner”.
Indeed, the online dating market continues to boom today. According to some estimates, 1000 new such sites are created per day around the world. In the United States, a pioneering country, revenues from this market were valued at $ 2.5 billion in 2016. At the same time, they already reached 1.6 billion dollars in China despite a much later appearance.
As for France, that same year, there were 2,000 dating sites, according to a BVA survey carried out for The Parisian. Not surprisingly, young people are the main users of Tinder, Happn, and others. At the time of the survey, more than one in four young people (18-25 years) visited at least one site, against 19% of 26-30 year-olds and 13% of 31-35 year-olds. Beyond this age, the percentages dropped below 10%. Another revealing figure from this survey: executives and intellectual professions are the most represented on these sites: 16.3% of them were registered in 2013 against 16% of intermediate professions, 13.3% of employees, 12.8 % of workers and 12.6% of craftsmen, traders and business leaders.
But, despite this impressive data, it’s important to note that dating sites are used a lot. for short-lived adventures. Also, according to another French study carried out by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), only 9% of couples who met between 2005 and 2016 got to know each other thanks to the Internet …
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