Online Dating: How to Figure Out If He's Lying in His Profile

by John Ortved

So you met this totally cute guy on Match.com. He has great arms and a cool job, reasonably braggy pictures and a decent head of hair. One question: is he a total liar? Now there’s a way to tell.
Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison have cracked the code, according to Wired magazine. Their research shows that the more someone avoids using the pronoun “I” in their online dating profiles, the more likely it is that he is lying about things like age, height and weight.
"Liars do this because they want to distance themselves from their deceptive statements," said Catalina Toma, communication science professor at the university.
People who lie will also choose negation over a plain statement. So that “happy” becomes “not sad” or “energetic” becomes “not boring.” According to Toma, liars do this because they feel they have a lot of explaining to do, they bear a heavy “cognitive load” so they keep it short and general (so they have less to explain later).
Also, people who use unrepresentative photos will avoid talking about their looks, and will focus instead on their accomplishments.
Around 80 percent of the online daters surveyed lied about something. Makes you think!
Do you believe everything when you read a guy’s online dating profile? What do you lie about on yours?
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