Let’s be real, it’s pretty tough to get a good read on someone you’ve never met in person. Without body language cues, the tone of their voice or their expressions to go on, you’re kinda forced to take all chat at face value.
Which is why researchers from Stanford University took it upon themselves to find out how many dating app users are partial to a fib. And as it turns out, lying is actually way less common than you’d think.
For the study, more than 3,000 text messages from around 200 people were analysed during the ‘discovery phase’ of dating (aka, the time between when a potential couple swipe right and actually meet-face-to-face.) Each participant was then asked to rate how dishonest they’d been in the exchanges, with only 7 percent overall containing any falsehoods.
The bulk of these were users exaggerating personal interests or lying about their social schedule.
“Being always available might come across as being desperate,” explained David Markowitz, researcher and assistant professor of Communication. “Therefore, people will lie about their availability or their current activity.” These are also known as “butler lies,” or “false messages that help a person manage his or her social availability.”
But it’s not all bad news for those looking for love.
“Most of the messages people report sending are honest and this is a positive step toward building trust in a new romantic relationship,” David added.
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