SUCCESSFUL, AMBITIOUS WOMEN SCORE MORE RESPONSES TO INTERNET PERSONAL ADS
If you're a single female looking for love through Internet personal ads, don't emphasize your good looks, according to a study conducted at the University of Utah.
Instead, mention that you're successful and ambitious, says Dr. Don Strassberg, a psychology professor who performed the research last year with undergraduate student Stephen Holty.
Strassberg, a clinical psychologist who has worked with couples for more 20 years, has always been fascinated by how people find each other. "A personal ad seems to be a reasonable alternative, at least as a way of getting started in a relationship," he says.
Several previous studies have examined the content of personal ads, but focused on the ads placed in newspapers. This time, Strassberg wanted to not only control the content of the ads by writing them himself, but by using another medium, the Internet, to generate responses.
"We really wanted to see if we could attract a nationwide sample, and the Internet seemed the perfect place to do that," he says. "I thought, 'What a perfect way to learn more about what attracts people to each other -- in this medium and in general.'"
Originally, the research was to examine the responses of men and women, but when female responses to male ads failed to appear, the team agreed to only study male responses to female ads.
The researchers placed four similar-sounding ads that varied in only one main attribute. In one ad, the woman described herself as "very attractive." In another, she referred to herself as "passionate and sensitive." A third ad described the writer as "financially successful and ambitious," while the fourth ad, the control, used none of these terms.
The ads were placed on three popular Internet bulletin boards, and were rotated over a month's time. "We wanted our ads to blend in and disappear," Strassberg says.
The researchers received 507 male responses -- and surprising results.
In the past, research has found that, among women who placed personal ads in newspapers, those who mentioned being physically attractive tended to receive the most responses. Strassberg figured the same results would pop up this time. He was wrong.
The Internet ads listing physical beauty "came in a very distant second to the woman who described herself as financially independent and ambitious," he says.
Strassberg also was surprised to find that the ad in which the woman described herself as "passionate and sensitive" came in dead last, even behind the control ad where no mention was made of looks, money or passion.
"What's really clear is that, far and away, women who described themselves as ambitious and successful touched a chord with these guys," Strassberg says.
The results may be due to an "Internet phenomenon," he speculates.
"Men who seek out women on the Internet may be better educated and more financially successful than those using the newspaper personals. They may be looking for someone like themselves," he says.
Examining what makes people respond to particular individuals was a fascinating experiment, Strassberg says.
"You can't help but be interested by what people say about themselves and what they're interested in," he says. "The personal ads become a wonderful way of comparing yourself to other people."
Incidentally, each of the men who inquired about the ads was sent a response from the "woman," who thanked the man for his interest, but who said she was interested in getting back together with an old flame.
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Source: Don Strassberg, 801 581-7559
Writer: Karen Wolf, 801 581-4628 email: [email protected]
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