I recently learned about this website called ok trends where trends from the dating site OkCupid are analyzed and the findings are actually pretty interesting! The major findings from this article I read called “The Mathematics of Beauty” attempt to dissect the correlation between attractiveness and the number of messages received.
Hmmm seems pretty counter intuitive to me at least. It turns out that when some men think you’re ugly (based on your profile picture), it means less competition for the men that think you’re attractive which gives them an incentive to send you a message so it’s actually good when some men think you’re unattractive?!
On the other hand, when a woman is just cute and are rated about a 4 on a scale of 1-5, it creates the impression that she’s in demand and many men are attracted to her which would turn off the average guy from sending a message because he thinks he won’t stand a chance. Therefore this is referred to as “the curse of being cute”.
The trends seem to only apply to women according to the site. Finally, their advice is to play up your flaws because this will give you lots of attention from people who don’t like you and those that do like you will feel like they have higher chances with you. Hope this is all making sense!
In short, this theory is all summarized with the table below.
What do you Lovely Ladies think about the mathematics of beauty??
sunflower / 451 posts
So if I read that right, a 4 is too intimidating, but a 5 isn’t? That seems a bit weird to me…
cherry blossom / 37 posts
LOL!!!! You’ve offically convinced me to never use that site. The guys there have some pretty bad self esteem, which actually really doesn’t surprise me.
guest
the cameo appearance by Garfield made me lol
I post a vague and mysterious pic and make guys presume that I’m ugly when I’m not, because I don’t want them to like me mainly for my sexiness
lol so I play up my profile with something humorous to get their attention and for them to actually read my profile rather than seeing that I’m cute and being too mesmerized to read my entire profile carefully
I haven’t signed up for dating sites but on my social network sites, guys that messaged me said that my profile made them laugh, so my looks wasn’t the main thing that got their attention, although some have been curious and asked what I really look like, but my tease pic and sarcastic tease profile does get a lot of attention, because I don’t seem intimidating, so ugly and attractive men, younger(legal of course) and older men and around my age have messaged me. I’m not looking for a relationship, so I usually reject these guys interested in me:P I just joined these networks for amusement:D I can see why some are repelled if she is very attractive, because they might presume that she is high maintenance and he would have to put in that much more effort to chase her
and nowadays, some people love convenience
or the uglier girl would be more flattered if a guy showed interest than the cuter girl, who is often complimented, so she’ll probably appreciate and be more lenient on the guy if he is ugly, too. lol
guest
): i hate that! why can’t guys just be normal and not.. idk, like this?! not talking to the ‘cute’ girls, and making them feel like crap because nobody will talk to them?! i know its not intentional and they just don’t want competition.. but like, wtf ):
guest
I don’t like how this is so generalised
daisy / 598 posts
Yeah I read that when it came out. Basically, if you’re average there’s too much competition and it’s not as worth it and they focus their time on finding someone who fits them. It makes sense, but definitely sucks being an average girl. But who know, maybe we have things about us that are unique that we don’t find unique? I’m trying to find a positive spin, bare with me lol.
To me this speaks to the male population in a horrible light. All I gather from this study is that men are trying to find the easy way out. If you find someone attractive, go for them and fight for them. Sure you shouldn’t have to fight so hard that it’s ridiculous but if you’re just expecting to get green lights all the way, you’re not really doing much to get this girl to like you. I’m old-fashioned, so I do want to see my man demonstrate strength and determination in this antiquated way, and not in the “fight for me” way but in, you should have to woo me.
guest
@xoxoKBABY@xanga - i agree ahahaha
guest
I see the logic behind this Mathmatics of beauty theory. However, if a guy really like something or someone (for whatever reason that may be - whether she is cute or not); I believe that nothing should stand in the way. Then again, guys are simple.
guest
Basically, this:
Universally beautiful=intimidating to all
Exotic features=Loved by some, hated by some
hydrangea / 79 posts
DEAR ECON MAJORS THIS IS CALLED GAME THEORY
guest
so that is why I don’t get any messages? = (
guest
hahahah the garfield pic made me laugh
guest
bhaha the cat pic. I think there’s truth to that theory
guest
Moral of story, no matter what you look like you can’t win. Fuck this shit, I’m getting a cat!
guest
I’m sick of flimsy and pseudo design studies that this site posts of, so I decided to actually read that Ok Cupid post.
I actually have to say, given it was a correlative study, it wasn’t too badly done at all…and is interesting. Of course, nothing said is actual definite, conclusive, or reliably.
As always, lets remember: Correlations can’t infer causality, and without replication, a study is only as good as a hypothesis.
lily / 5148 posts
@animechrisy@xanga - True
daisy / 502 posts
I’m confused.
hydrangea / 50 posts
Hahaha, oh Garfield <3
guest
@EccentricSiren@xanga - 5 is so hot that it’s worth the shot.
4 is pretty cute, but not worth the effort because the return for the wasted time messaging her if she doesn’t message back isn’t there.
guest
This confuses me to death. I met my boyfriend on there. Though I asked him what his first impression of me was and he said I was the cute nerdy girl who he was surprised messaged him back. So guys, good things can happen when you message the girl you find cute.
guest
Hahahahah I love the last table!!!! Its very accurate as far as my feelings are concerned. What are the stats for guys in this study?
guest
Not sure if I believe that this is true in the internet world since men with no balls turn into king kong, but it IS true in real life. My mom’s always been a really attractive woman, and she doesn’t have a lot of men approach her. Men have told ME how attractive she is, yet they won’t say anything to her due to intimidation. Men view very attractive women as less approachable.
THENNN AGAIN, I don’t always believe in these studies because all men have different tastes. Some men like tan women with blonde hair, some men like pale women with dark hair…Some men like big women some men like small women…Attraction isn’t black and white so I’m not sure studies can conclude anything realistically. I think men who are really muscular are unattractive…Yet many women are attracted to them…So just because I don’t find them attractive, doesn’t mean they might not be considered extremely attractive to someone else. I dunno…
guest
hahaha isn’t that the game theory/prisoner’s dilemma? XD
guest
hahahaha garfield…
hydrangea / 57 posts
love it!
guest
I felt like I got a good amount of messages (but I don’t know compared to other girls). Not sure what that means. Ah well, got my guy (from there), so not really worried about it.
guest
Interesting post. But I’m more interested in the picture supplied with the post. I wonder what kind of inertia the larger body has in relation to the smaller body, and whether the the kinetic energy from the two objects will cause an elastic or inelastic collision. We could have so much fun with science (or dynamics as the case maybe).
guest
@P0RCELA1N_D0LL@xanga - Am i the only one that is annoyed by you?
guest
@albaangel@xanga - I have more fans than haters
you’re only the second one who said they were annoyed, but he couldn’t stand my comment because it personally offended him even though I wasn’t personally attacking him, yet he took it personal-I was talking about how I like tall guys and he is short. why are you annoyed?