Who did you swipe on? UTM PhD student sheds light on authenticity in online dating

You’ve gone through their photos, scanned their bio and pored over their personalized description. But just who are you swiping right on when you match with someone on an online dating platform?

According to new research from UTM, the extent to which someone’s true personality is conveyed on an online dating profile is largely up to the individual – but most people want to present their authentic selves.

“Self-presentation in online dating is a balancing act,” says Sarra Jiwa, a PhD student in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

“We found that people curating their profiles often wanted to be seen accurately and positively. But sometimes they wanted to present a different self than their true personality.”

Jiwa is the lead author on the paper titled “Who Did I Swipe On? Accuracy and Self-Presentation in Online Dating.”

The study, which appears in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, saw participants upload real online dating profiles for analysis and then describe their personality and the impression they wanted to convey. A panel of “judges,” who were single people seeking a relationship, then viewed the profiles and examined the descriptions.

Profile makers were largely successful in presenting the impression they wanted, whether it reflected their true personality or not, the study found.

“Sometimes, people could curate an impression they wanted without their true personality leaking out to the viewer,” says Jiwa, noting, however, that there were limits to how much a person could mask their true self.

“They wouldn’t be successful in conveying an impression that was completely opposite to their personality.”

Self-confident people were more likely to present themselves authentically, especially if their goal was to meet a suitable, compatible match, the paper indicates.

Those who intended to misrepresent themselves – and were skilled at doing so – tended to be insecure and wanted to appear more emotionally stable, the research suggests.

Jiwa says she chose to study the topic because personality is a key factor when someone is looking for a potential partner, even though a lot of the focus can be on an element like attractiveness.

“Other work has looked at accuracy in social media, such as Facebook,” she says. “We wanted to see if the process differs in online dating, where the stakes of being accurate and making a good impression are higher.”

For those looking at online dating profiles, a key goal is to screen candidates and accurately see them for who they really are – with the aim of finding the right match, Jiwa explains.

The good news is that when online daters presented themselves accurately and transparently, viewers largely perceived their personalities accurately, the study reported.

However, in some cases, viewers had a halo bias – where a single positive trait influenced overall impressions – and were less discerning, which could lead to frustration and disappointment during in-person dating.

“Many of us have biases that prevent us from being able to screen for personality well. We find ourselves drawn to certain people, which pulls us away from accuracy,” says Jiwa.

“For example, people who were seen as more physically attractive by some viewers were able to skillfully misrepresent their personality to those viewers.”

When vetting online dating profiles, Jiwa advises viewers to pay close attention.

“Be aware that if you are particularly drawn to someone, you may see them less accurately. Take a closer look,” she says. “You are likely seeing people as they want to be seen and there might be some personality cues that you’re missing.”

So what’s an optimal strategy for successful online dating? Authenticity and some positivity can go a long way, Jiwa suggests.

“People generally do seem to put their best foot forward and be accurate in self-presentation. As a strategy for online dating, that seems to work,” says Jiwa.

“Putting a positive spin can be beneficial for early romantic relationships.”

But there is a significant difference between positive spin and deception.

“It doesn’t make sense to entirely misrepresent yourself,” says Jiwa. “That type of blatant misrepresentation is likely to backfire.”