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Names 'important' in online dating
5 April 2008
New research reveals that men and women looking for love on the internet are more likely to find a potential partner by using an appealing alias.
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In a paper due to be presented at this year's British Psychological Society annual meeting, researchers show that flirtatious, playful and positively descriptive names are the most successful.
Both sexes are said to be most likely to contact potential mates with "outgoing" and "fun" names in the online dating domain, the Times reports.
Choices such as 'i'msweet' and 'fun2bwith' were singled out as prime examples of playful screen names that typically generated interest.
Physically descriptive aliases, perhaps 'blueeyes' or 'cutie', were also said to go some way to make up for a lack of an image on a member's profile.
Nottingham Trent University internet psychology lecturer Dr Monica Whitty, the co-author of the paper, told the Times: "These names suggest an outgoing or fun nature, or clarify the user's positive physical appearance."
Men were found to shy away from women with booky names that suggested intelligence, whereas women were found to be more likely to consider a man with a name suggesting an interest in culture.
The researchers were surprised to find that names implying wealth were the least popular among both men and women.
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