What Does Your Tinder Photo Say About Your Trustworthiness?

by Natalie Shoemaker

Brian Handwerk from The Smithsonian understands that in the age of internet dating apps, like Tinder, there's a little bit of deception that goes on. A trick of the lens here and a slight cropping of an image there, and you're more apt to get a date. Your photo speaks to who you are, but what is your profile picture saying about you as a potential mate?

Rory McGloin, the co-author of a recent study, illustrated how much value we place on these pictures before we decide to move forward:

“You look at a picture of someone and all of a sudden you're making judgments about what their personality is like, what their values are, whether or you want to go on a date with them or even maybe spend the rest of your life with them. And it's all based on one picture.”

In the recent study, which consisted of about 300 heterosexual volunteers, researchers found men and women see different things when looking at a photo on a dating site.

Researchers noticed a trend forming fast between the two genders. Men who were given an image of an attractive women with enhanced lighting, hair, and makeup agreed that the female in the photo was beautiful, but rated the image as less trustworthy. However, women would rate similarly doctored photos of men as both more attractive and trustworthy than the same un-enhanced photos.

McGloin commented:

“It seems that the women were placing faith in the attractiveness of the males. It's almost hopeful, as opposed to the fellas who may have taken a more kind of realistic approach.”

But what's interesting is that people seem to accept this deception behavior as part of the process and even admit to doing it themselves.

What's more, even though the men rated the enhanced photos of women as less trustworthy, they still reported a higher desire to date them, as compared to the more “true-to-self” photos they were given.

Read more at The Smithsonian.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock