The effects of cognitive load on potential partner choices in online speed dating profiles

Abstract

With the widespread availability of the internet and technology, people are able to find romantic partners in easily accessible mediums such as phone dating applications and online dating websites. Although studies have examined the attributes that increase potential romantic partner selection, previous research has not incorporated the potential cognitive stress that accompany technology based romantic dating (Eastwick, Eagly, Finkel, & Johnson, 2011). The present study is a cross-sectional experimental study examining the influence of cognitive stress and explicit ideals of physical attractiveness on prospective online dating profiles in a sample (N=94) of undergraduate psychology college population. Findings did not support the hypothesis that participants who are not cognitively stressed and have low explicit ideals of physical attractiveness chose romantic profiles that are low in physical attractiveness. Additionally, the main effects of explicit ideals of physical attractiveness and cognitive stress on romantic profile choice while controlling for similarity were not statistically significant. However, an exploratory MANOVA analysis of gender on explicit ideals of physical attractiveness and profile choice found that men and women differed with statistical significance in their reporting of explicit ideals, F (1, 92) =8.395, p =.019, η2 = .059. Finally, another exploratory three-way ANOVA found that there was a statistically significant interaction between romantic status, cognitive stress, and explicit ideals of physical attractiveness on romantic interest in potential romantic partners, F (1, 84) = 4.007, p= .049, η2 = .046.