Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder? OkCupid Study Reveals Interesting Statistics

OkCupid just released their latest OkTrends study as it relates to beauty. And rather than focusing solely on the profile photos, they took a deeper look into the male attraction.
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Our friends at OkCupid have been quiet for a while, but just released their latest OkTrends study as it relates to beauty. Rather than focusing solely on the profile photos, they took a deeper look into the male reaction to a woman's attractiveness.

The free online dating site looked at 43,000 female profiles of their members aged 20-27 to see who received the most contacts from men.

Their findings show that the more that men disagree as a group about a woman's looks, the more they will end up liking her. Simply put, a woman who is perceived as attractive by some and ugly by others has a greater chance of being contacted.

Considering women have been trained to believe that all men are visual, and worry night and day about their online dating profile not being less than perfect, this was an interesting finding. It came as a big surprise to me that men who found women unattractive, were more likely to write to these women as compared to online dating profiles that were more popular and considered cute across the board.

It would seem unlikely that a man would search for an unattractive woman online as men are so visual and the profile photo is the most important element of an online dating profile. This forces women to sadly post older photos or even open up editing software to rid of their obvious wrinkles and signs of aging. We hope that men will take the time to get to know a woman in real life, find out how intelligent and witty she is, appreciate her confidence, and have her non-visual traits rise to the top.

According to OkTrends, "We now have mathematical evidence that shows us that minimizing your "flaws" is the opposite of what you should do. If you're a little chubby, play it up. If you have a big nose, play it up. If you have a weird snaggletooth, play it up: statistically, the guys who don't like it can only help you, and the ones who do like it will be all the more excited."

If this is truly the case, I urge women who are feeling insecure about one of their physical traits to jump online, show off your individuality and quirkiness, and be ready for an overflowing inbox from some of the men whose curiosity will be piqued by your overconfident personality. At the end of the day, it's refreshing to find that not all men are superficial online. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, as well as on the computer screens of those looking for love online.

For the complete study, The Mathematics of Beauty, visit OkTrends

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