Using dating apps may have lowered your standards

Dating online went from a taboo topic spoken of in hushed tones, to the status quo among colleagues and friends.

Apps like Tindr and Grindr and websites like match.com and Plenty of Fish are a regular visit for singletons everywhere.

And the normalisation of this method of meeting new people for romantic encounters (or casual sex,) means that we all now have access to a much larger pool of potential partners.

Because of ths, we might be lowering our standards just a tad...

A study by University of Queensland and RSVP looked at the dating behaviours of more than 41,000 Australians aged between 18 and 80 over a period four months using dating websites and apps.

The research revealed that, as people get older, they are less inclined to be picky about contacting a potential partner online that matches, or exceeds their intellect.

Behavioural economist Stephen Whyte said:

Selecting a mate can be one of the largest psychological and economic decisions a person can make and has long been the subject of social science research across a range of disciplines, all of which acknowledge one phenomenon: positive assortative mating behaviour (homogamy).

Not only that, but one third of initial messages sent on dating websites didn’t match their person's listed criteria when looking for a partner – like physical and even personality preferences.

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