Decisive Dating: Research Reveals How Our Brains Decide Who We’ll Be Attracted To

When it comes to dating, are our brains causing us to miss out on potential partners? They could be, according to some new research from Ireland’s very own Trinity College.

Scientists at the university have used a series of brain scans to discover how our brains work when it comes to determining our attraction for members of the opposite sex. Unsurprisingly, the results showed that our brains cause us to make rapid impressions and judgements about potential partners before we even have a chance to get to know them.

Researchers from Trinity College recruited 78 single women and 72 single men and asked them to take part in a speed dating event. Before the volunteers went speed dating, researchers took 39 aside and scanned their brains in an MRI machine as they looked at pictures of men and women who would be present at the event.

As well as scanning their brains, researchers asked the volunteers to rate how badly they’d like to go on a date with the people in the pictures. The volunteers were also asked to state how physically attracted they were to the people in the pictures.

After this, the volunteers were then taken speed dating and the vast majority reported back a strong level of romantic interest in the people that they had rated highly from their pictures.

The results of all this showed that the volunteers were able to predict beforehand which potential dates interested them.

Our brains help us make up our minds about someone within seconds of meeting them

The research showed that two parts of the brain’s dorsomedial prefrontal cortex – that area of the brain that almost sits above the eyes – could accurately predict whether volunteers would later romantically pursue the people whose pictures they had rated highly.

It’s great that we’re able to distinguish what we like, but does this mean we subconsciously miss out on other partners because our judgements are too hasty?

Well, yes. Sort of. We guess it depends on how you look at things when it comes to dating. Are you the kind of woman who knows that she’s going to fancy a man simply from looking at his picture? Or do you prefer to give everyone a fighting chance?