Internet Dating Lies

People who post information about themselves online misrepresent the truth about themselves in their web profiles. Recent research from Cornell University suggests that Internet profiles are often inaccurate, although lies in online profiles are generally subtle and small. New York City residents were interviewed and evaluated to check the accuracy of their profiles posted on Internet dating websites, including Match.com and Yahoo! Personals.

Psychological Study of Online Profile Accuracy

These individuals were asked to rate the accuracy of information such as physical appearance, social status, relationship information, habits, and beliefs on their printed-out online profile. Internet daters participating in this study also reported how acceptable they believed it would be to lie about the information on their dating profiles. Accurate information about their height, weight, and age was collected from the Internet daters, using a measuring tape, a scale, and their driver’s licenses.

Is Your Online Profile Accurate?

Overall, the participants reported to be very accurate about their relationship status and whether or not they have children – a sensible finding, considering that future romantic partners would easily find out if they had lied.

Study participants told experimenters that they had lied most often about socially sensitive subjects, including income, occupation, and smoking. Men were slightly more likely than women to lie about their income, and women were slightly more likely than men to lie about whether or not they smoked tobacco. Interestingly, men lied more often than women about their level of education, and women lied more often than men about their political views.

Lies about Height, Weight, and Age

According to their own admissions, both men and women often lied about their age and physical appearance in their Internet dating profiles. The researchers have precise data on these items, having measured them in the laboratory. Over 80 percent of the online daters lied about their age, height, or weight. Body weight was the most frequently inaccurate information, with over half of participants misrepresenting their weight by five or more pounds.

Female online daters were most likely to lie about their weight (59%), followed by height (42%), and age (13%). Male Internet dating profiles were most inaccurate about height (61%), followed by weight (55%), and age (24%).

Is it Acceptable to Lie in Your Dating Profile?

Overall, Internet daters participating in the Cornell University study reported that it was generally unacceptable to lie in online dating profiles. In general, participants told experimenters that it was least acceptable to lie about education and relationship status, and most acceptable to lie about income and interests.

Men and women differed somewhat in what types of lies were socially acceptable. Male online daters agreed that it was least acceptable to lie about whether or not you were in a relationship or had children, but believed that it is relatively acceptable to lie about income, occupation, politics, and interests.

Females dating on the Internet reported that lying about relationship history and social status including occupation and education was highly unacceptable. Interestingly, while women were more likely to lie about being a smoker, they also considered lying about smoking highly unacceptable. Female online daters believed that it is (relatively) most acceptable to lie about hair and eye color, income, and interests.

Toma, C.L., Hancock, J.T., & Ellison, N.B. (2008). Separating fact from fiction: An examination of deceptive self-presentation in online dating profiles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1023-1036.

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