Valentine’s Day is just around the corner — and if you want to maintain the interest of a woman on Tinder, a funny chat-up line is the way to go, scientists have revealed.
US researchers tested out various online chat-up lines on 237 young, heterosexual adults — finding that humour was a better opening gambit than compliments.
In fact, they found that men who used funny introductions were seen as more attractive to women, who rated them as more intelligent, kind and trustworthy.
Even if some of the lines were a little cheesy, they found that women still responded to them better than bland, unimaginative greetings like ‘Hi, how are you?’
Men, in contrast, were found to overwhelmingly base their evaluations of prospective dates on how attractive they found the woman’s profile.
The team noted that, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic closing bars and clubs around the world, singles have surged to apps like Tinder for their dating needs.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner — and if you want to maintain the interest of a woman on Tinder, a funny chat-up line is the way to go, scientists have revealed (stock image)
In the study, the participants each viewed a Tinder profile for a member of the opposite sex before being presented with one of twelve pick-up lines engineered by the researchers — which varied from those that were humorous to those that were complimentary.
Each volunteer then went on to rate the positive attributes that they perceived based on the user’s profile and message — and state whether or not they would want to date the person in question.
Positive attributes considered in the study included intelligence, kindness, physical attractiveness and trustworthiness.
The chat up lines rated by women included ‘Do you have any raisins? No? How about a date?’, ‘Are you from Tennessee? Because you’re the only ten I can see’, ‘You have a very nice smile’ and ‘Hey! What’s up?’
The team found that, of the four, the funny chat-up line about Tennessee led to men being rated more attractive by the women in the study.
Furthermore, opening messages that were either humorous or contained a compliment were better received by women than a generic greeting.
When someone looks to strike up a conversation, their opening remarks act as a display of their character, said paper author and communications researcher Minhao Dai of the Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
It enables the sender, he added, to demonstrate ‘qualities that may be of interest to the intended recipient.’
‘A pick-up line is one of the typical ways of how an individual communicates the intention to converse and pursue romantic courtship.
‘People who seek romantic relationships and committed romantic partners use humour to either obtain or enhance their relationships.
‘Humour promotes positive emotions in two ways — first through increased perceived credibility, second to reduce psychological reactance.’
US researchers tested out different online chat-up lines on 237 young, heterosexual adults — finding that humour was a better opening gambit than compliments. In fact, they found that men who used funny introductions were seen as more attractive to women, who rated them as more intelligent, kind and trustworthy. Pictured: four of the opening messages tested
‘Pick-up lines are the first remark heard when starting a conversation online, and dating apps like Tinder can change pick-up lines’ impacts,’ the researchers wrote.
‘Online dating, by all means, is a complicated communication process that presents its unique ecology.
‘We hope the current findings add to the existing knowledge […] and shed more light on a crucial communication cue in online dating — pick-up lines.’
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.
‘When someone looks to strike up a conversation, their opening remarks act as a display of their character, said paper author and communications researcher Minhao Dai of the Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Pictured, two of the Tinder profiles used in the study
WHO WAS SAINT VALENTINE?
Saint Valentine’s life is largely shrouded in mystery, but tradition holds he was a clergyman who was killed in 273 AD
Although St Valentine’s life is largely shrouded in mystery, tradition holds that the ancient clergyman, who was killed in 273AD, sacrificed his life for love by defying a ban on marriage imposed by the Roman Emperor Claudius II.
Historians claim the hard-nosed ruler was determined to build a formidable army to defend his empire.
He clamped down on lovers getting married as he believed that young men with no wife or dependants would be more likely to go to war.
But the early Christian saint challenged the edict and secretly performed weddings for couples.
The risks were great. Valentine lived at a time when Christians were persecuted and marriage ceremonies were still a new ritual.
St Valentine’s match-making activities, particularly for soldiers, were eventually uncovered and Claudius II imprisoned and tortured him.
Legend has it that while in jail many young people supported him by throwing flowers and passing notes through the prison bars expressing their belief in marriage and love.
And apparently shortly before his death, the clergyman fell head over heels for his jailer’s blind daughter, Artemias, who miraculously regained her eyesight.
On February 14, the day of his execution, St Valentine sent his sweetheart a goodbye love letter signed ‘from your Valentine’.
