Can I confidently guess who you are? Personality and intelligence perception in online dating

Abstract

We conducted two computer-mediated speed dating studies to evaluate personality perception based on language use in online dating and analyzed the data with Bayesian statistics. In each study, participants first reported mating-relevant personality traits (Big Five, sociosexual orientation) and we assessed their intelligence (N1 = 186, N2 = 618). Subsequently, we conducted computer-mediated speed dating sessions at our laboratory (n1 = 56, n2 = 94). After the first chat, participants rated their chat partner on the constructs mentioned above (i.e., personality and intelligence). Linguistic patterns in the chats were analyzed using LIWC. In both studies, consistent evidence showed that online daters systematically rated partners with higher IQ and extraversion scores as more intelligent and extraverted above chance. We also derived different linguistic cues as potential mediators from earlier studies. Empirical evidence proved very strongly against mediation based on such linguistic cues. Hence, although people are able to make correct inferences about the personality and intelligence of potential mates in the dynamic setting of speed dating, it remains unclear which cues they rely on.