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7 Things We Can Learn from Match’s Singles in America Study

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Match, the world’s largest online dating company, recently released findings from its seventh annual Singles in America study and a lot of the findings are incredibly interesting.

Singles in America is the nation’s largest, most comprehensive annual survey of single people living in the United States. The 2016 survey captures surprising data and trends on new dating rituals, the impact social media has had on the dating landscape, shifting gender roles, attitudes about love, sex, and relationships across generations and more.

“The annual Singles in America study has once again demonstrated new emerging trends, including men’s overwhelmingly positive view of feminism and feminists in the boardroom and the bedroom,” says Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and Chief Scientific Advisor to Match. “We’ve captured the great spring forward in gender equality.”

Though the study was commissioned by Match, the results have far-reaching results. “Millennials are diligently using technology to find love—and building new dating rules and taboos along the way,” said a spokesperson from Match. “Moreover, if you want to spur a budding relationship forward, skip the flowers: leave your cell phone in your pocket. And how do you know when a friendship is turning into a romance? Singles still express true love in ancestral ways — it’s not about revealing your passwords.”

If you’re hoping to be successful at dating in 2017, here are a few important takeaways from the study.

1. We’ve come a long way America.

Making fun of online dating as a tactic that’s strictly for desperados and weirdos is like, so, 1998. While it’s still possible to meet a selection of bizarre individuals online (#TrueStory), the same can be said about meeting people in person, because almost everyone is online now. In fact, according to Match.com’s study, online dating has continued to increase in popularity, offering a new way to find romantic partners. Fifty-three percent of single people have created a dating profile. And today, 40 percent of singles have dated someone they met online, while only 25 percent met a first date through a friend.

2. Relationships aren’t dead.

If you believed the hype about non-committal, hook-up obsessed millennials, you’d get the impression that we’re in some sort of dating apocalypse. But the reality is actually quite the opposite. Millennials are 30 percent more likely than any other generation to want to find a relationship in 2017—and they are using technology to do it. They are 75 percent more likely than Boomers to have dated someone online, and 57 percent more likely than those of other generations to have created a profile on a dating app.

3. When a woman offers to pay half of the bill, it’s perceived differently depending on gender.

This is really interesting. Seventy-one percent of men find it attractive when a woman offers to split the bill. Men think that women who offer to pay are just being polite (65 percent) or that they don’t want to be mistaken for wanting a free meal (61 percent). However, only 47 percent of women offer to pay to be polite or to assert their independence. While 74 percent of women say they offer to pay because they don’t want to feel obligated for anything – a hug, kiss or a second date.

4. Feminism is having a positive effect on dating in 2017.

While most singles have a differing understanding of this burgeoning social movement (37 percent of single men and 46 percent of single women define feminism as women being equal to men, however 43 percent of singles think it “means a lot of different things” and six percent don’t know what it means), it’s undeniable that it’s having an impact on modern dating. In fact, 59 percent of single men think that feminism “has changed the dating rules for the better,” saying that dating is now safer (55 percent), more enjoyable (54 percent), and easier (49 percent). While single women feel that the rise of gender equality “has made me pickier about potential dates (63 percent),” and “makes me feel more empowered in my dating life (57 percent).” Can we get a collective fist pump?

5. Men are turned on by female entrepreneurs.

It’s a great time to be a female entrepreneur. As if running your own business wasn’t bad-ass enough on it’s own, the number one turn on for single men this year is female entrepreneurs (38 percent)! Entrepreneurs tend to be creative, industrious, self-confident and daring – all qualities that make for a great partner. It’s another step in the emerging global trend toward the double income family, successful business women and men who respect and admire women for their business acumen. Amen, to that.

6. Women, make the first move!

Ladies, if you needed an excuse to make the first move in 2017, the motivation is in the stats. According to Match, men are overwhelmingly in favor of women initiating the first kiss (95 percent), as well as initiating sex for the first time (93 percent). The vast majority of men are also pleased if a woman asks for a man’s phone number (95 percent), and is the first to call after a good first date (94 percent). With that said, as women we’re not harnessing our dating power. Although men love it when women make the first move, few women initiate the first kiss (29 percent); few initiate sex for the first time (23 percent); and few ask a guy for his phone number (13 percent). Let’s change that!

7. Leave your phone out of it.

There’s nothing worse than a date who can’t peel themselves away from their phone; answering calls, texts and reading emails while you’re trying to get to know each other. Singles in America respondents agree: 75 percent of singles are turned off if you answer your phone without offering any explanation while on a date. While 66 percent are turned off if you text someone during a date; 58 percent don’t want you to place your phone on the table face up; 57 percent are upset if you read the occasional text during a date; and 41 percent regard it as rude if you take your phone with you to the bathroom or outside. The lesson here: we’re tethered to our phones throughout the day. Use a date as a fun excuse to temporarily unplug and focus on the task at hand: getting to know someone new.

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