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Singletons judge potential partners on their phones, study finds

It seems we're bigger phone snobs than you may have thought

Rachel Hosie
Wednesday 08 February 2017 12:35 GMT
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(Getty Images)

If you’ve long been baffled as to why you can’t seem to get past a first date, the answer may just have emerged - your phone.

A new study has found that women are 92 per cent more likely than men to judge a potential partner negatively for having an older phone model.

What’s more, phone compatibility is seemingly important: iPhone users are 21 times more likely to be turned off by their date having an Android phone (God forbid your text messages are green not blue), but Android-users are less judgy about those of us with iPhones.

Even a cracked phone screen could be hindering your chances of finding love - 14 per cent of singles would judge someone for having a shattered screen.

Understandably, 75 per cent of people would be turned off if their date answered their phone with no explanation, but 41 per cent even think it’s rude if you take your phone to the loo with you (how else are we supposed to update our friends though?).

The findings emerged from Match’s seventh annual Singles in America report which surveyed over 5,500 adults between the ages of 18 and 70.

The survey drew some interesting conclusions about millennials - as a generation, we’re 51% more likely than our parents to have no interest in sex, but 90% more likely than baby boomers to have had sex without even going on a date, which 48 per cent of us have done.

Millennials are also 40 per cent more likely to believe a strong emotional connection will lead to better sex.

Perhaps due to our love-hate relationship with dating apps, millennials are 125 per cent more likely to admit they’re addicted to dating than older generations.

The study also confirmed that feminism is well and truly present in the modern dating arena.

71 per cent of men revealed they find it attractive when a woman offers to split the bill, but 65 per cent think we do so just to be polite.

The reasons women in fact do offer to pay were varied: 47 per cent try to pay at least their half to assert their independence or be polite, but 74 per cent admit they offer to pay because they don’t want to feel they owe their date anything, be that a kiss, second date or anything more.

The majority of men also like dating feminists, with 59 per cent of males believing feminism “has changed the dating rules for the better.”

It would appear men aren’t intimidated by ambitious women either, with female entrepreneurs emerging as the top turn-on for single men this year.

Despite this, it’s still men who take the lead: 29 per cent of women initiate the first kiss and 23 per cent initiate sex for the first time.

But men clearly love it when women are more forward: 95 per cent of single men are fans of a woman initiating the first kiss, and 93 per cent feel the same about sex for the first time.

The vast majority of men also like it if a woman asks for their phone number (95 per cent), and is the first to get in touch after a good first date (94 per cent).

So, ladies, maybe it’s time to take control - just make sure you don’t have a cracked phone screen.

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