One in a Million Love

A team of international researchers has found that having more choices doesn't necessarily lead to making better decisions when it comes to finding a mate, and this knowledge could affect the way you approach online dating.

The team found that online daters reported the same amount of satisfaction when they had to choose from four potential dates as those who were able to pick from 20 profiles. In fact, those who only had four choices reported better than anticipated experiences.

"I find it interesting—and a bit worrying—that the underestimation of the costs of too much choice which we, and other consumer researchers alike, find plagues not just the daters, but the designers of dating web sites," says researcher Barbara Fasolo. "If we want people to make sensible choices, researchers need to 'nudge' dating web site designers towards simpler and more manageable web sites."

It turns out that when the human brain was developing decision-making skills, there was no such thing as Walmart or eBay, or any other marketplace with an overwhelming amount of choices. That explains why it's difficult to choose a box of cereal, let alone a life partner. Or as Physorg.com reports, "When you're faced with a million possibilities, you have a much smaller chance of picking the 'right' one than if you had to pick from just four."

So, the next time you're searching on an online dating site, try narrowing down your choices to a smaller pool. You might find you're more satisfied than you expected. [Physorg.com]