The dating game is hard. While the advent of dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, Grindr and the like have help people connect in ways never seen before.
But there are so many ways to play the game: go straight up and honest, be coy and mysterious, have loads of pictures, have just one, be smiling, be serious. It's honestly exhausting.
While everyone has different tastes, expectations and hopes, a new study has revealed there is one thing that you might want to avoid, according to a new study.
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Researchers from Colorado State University have found that women are less likely to swipe right on a photo of a man with a cat.
While Mittens might mean the absolute world to you, it means a hell of a lot less to women on average.
More than 700 women aged between 18 and 24 were shown photos of two men. There were four pictures in total, with two of the men without their cats and two with their feline companion.
The respondents were asked to what degree they thought each man fit the following categories: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness.
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Interestingly, the surveyed women were noticeably turned off with the cat pictures.
"Men holding cats were viewed as less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less dateable," the authors wrote.
To add another layer to the exercise, the researchers asked how many of the participants in the survey were dog people and 47.3 per cent said yes. The academics believe that this helped skew the results into thinking men with cats was less desirable.
"American culture has distinguished 'cat men' as less masculine, perhaps creating a cultural preference for "dog men" among most heterosexual women in the studied age group," the study said.
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"Given that our respondents perceived the photo of the man holding a cat as more feminine, it is also possible they subconsciously (or consciously) perceived him as being gay.
"Kranz, Pröbstle, and Evidis found that homosexual men were rated as more feminine and less or equally masculine than heterosexual men as rated by college aged men and women.
"If this indeed remains a cultural perception, then women who perceive a man holding a cat as less masculine could, potentially, believe he is also gay."
It's a tough world out there when you can't showcase your favourite friend on your dating profile. Maybe having the cat photo up there will mean you'll only attract people who like cats; and that can't be a bad thing.
Featured Image Credit: PixabayTopics: News, Dating, Interesting, Animals