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Your name, whether it be online or on your drivers license, can affect everything from your income, your education, as well as your love life.
According to new research published in Evidence Based Medicine, "choosing a screen name that starts with a letter from the first half of the alphabet might be just as important."
Two researchers, both looking to find a scientific formula for online dating, combed through 86 studies on online dating. Some of the results were interesting (one study found that responding too quickly makes you look desperate), while others might not have been all that surprising (men like screen names that highlight your physical attractiveness, and there's no such thing as posting too many selfies).
Through it all, they found that "having a screen name that starts with a letter from the latter half of the alphabet (N through Z) seriously hurts your chances of finding love online."
That's because most "dating sites typically list their search results in alphabetical order," says lead author Khalid S. Khan, associate editor of Evidence Based Medicine. "The later your name appears in the alphabet, the more profiles other singles will scroll through before they get to yours (if they get there at all)."
It might not be news that you have to play the numbers game to score a good date, but this certainly is: online daters find screen names that start with the latter half of the internet as less attractive.
“There is something in human nature that draws us to those at the top of any listing and this phenomenon, though not fully explained, has an impact on online dating,” Khan says. “Perhaps we give higher value to things that appear to be at the top of the pile.”
This doesn't even just apply to online dating profiles. According to their research, this preference is so intense that this applies to your first name and can affect your education or income, says Khan.
One study published in Economics of Education Review found that, the earlier in the alphabet a student's name comes, the more likely they are to make it into competitive schools. Another Georgetown study found that those with names that start with letters that occur later in the alphabet are more likely to be impulse shoppers. Researchers sum this up to the fact that they probably spent a majority of their childhood in the back of the line, so they compensate by giving in to fast opportunities (even if they shouldn't).
“This does not mean that things [like dating profiles] lower down in the alphabet don't have a chance, they just have to do something to overcome the odds,” he says. Simply choose a screen name that begins with a letter at the start of the alphabet!
What do you think about this study? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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