Less Than Perfect Beauties Are More Popular on OkCupid

Our friends at OkCupid have released their first mathematical study of the New Year entitled The Mathematics of Beauty.

According to OkTrends, men will respond more to women where some men think the ladies are attractive and others think they’re not.? The bottom line is, the more diverse the opinions are about a particular profile, the greater chance that the guys will like her. Sound confusing? Not really. Simply put, a woman who is perceived as attractive by some and ugly by others has a greater chance of being contacted online.? The study elaborates that if everyone thinks a woman’s photo is cute, she’ll have a lower chance of being popular on the site than if some think she’s unattractive and others find her attractive.

The free online dating site looked at 43,000 female profiles of their members aged 20-27 to see who received the most contacts from men.

Considering women have been trained to believe that all men are visual and if you’re not a “10” online, your response rate could be diminished, this is an interesting finding. It came as a big surprise to me that if some men find women unattractive, those women are considered more popular than someone who is viewed as cute across the board.

After all, what man goes in search online for an ugly duckling he hasn’t met yet to put on his arm? Most of the men I speak with and coach clearly focus on the visual and if the profile photo isn’t immediately appealing, they move on. This forces women to sadly post older photos, or even open up their photo shop software to get rid of some obvious wrinkles and signs of aging. We hope that men will take the time to get to know a woman in real life, find out how intelligent and witty she is,? appreciate her confidence, and have the non-visual traits rise to the top.

According to OkTrends, “We now have mathematical evidence that shows us that minimizing your “flaws” is the opposite of what you should do. If you’re a little chubby, play it up. If you have a big nose, play it up. If you have a weird snaggletooth, play it up: statistically, the guys who don’t like it can only help you, and the ones who do like it will be all the more excited.”

If this is truly the case, I urge women who are feeling insecure about one of their physical traits to jump online, pose to show off your individuality, and be ready for an overflowing inbox from some of the men whose curiosity will be piqued by your overconfident personality. At the end of the day, it’s refreshing to find that not all men are superficial online.? Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder as well as on the computer screens of those looking for love online.

Julie Spira is America's Top Online Dating Expert. She's an award-winning dating coach who's been helping singles find love online for 25+ years. Follow @JulieSpira on IG.