Objective: We investigated the communicative function of online dating nicknames. Our aim was to assess if it is possible to correctly guess personality traits of a user simply by reading his/her nickname. Method: We had 69 nickname users (average age: 33.59 years, 36 female) complete questionnaires assessing their personality (Big 5 + narcissism) and mating strategy (short-vs. long-term). We then checked (using a total of 638 participants, average age: 26.83 years, 355 female), whether personality and mating strategy of the nickname users could be assessed correctly based only on the nickname. We also captured the motivation to contact the user behind a nickname and looked at linguistic features of the nicknames. Results: We found that personality and mating strategy could be inferred from a nickname. Furthermore, going by trends, women were better at intersexual personality judgments, whereas men were better in intrasexual judgements. We also found several correlates of the motivation to contact the person behind the nickname. Among other factors, long nicknames seemed to deter people from contacting the nickname user. Conclusions: Findings display that humans are capable of making accurate personality judgements in computer-mediated communication by means of even small cues like nicknames.

We provide a literature overview of 30 years of research on the amount of invested mental effort (AIME, Salomon, 1984), illuminating relevant literature in this field. Since the introduction of AIME, this concept appears to have vanished. To obtain a clearer picture of where the theory of AIME has diffused, we conducted a literature search focusing on the period 1985–2015. We examined scientific articles (N = 244) that cite Salomon (1984) and content-analyzed their keywords. Based on these keywords, we identified seven content clusters: affect and motivation, application fields, cognition and learning, education and teaching, media technology, learning with media technology, and methods. We present selected works of each content cluster and describe in which research field the articles had been published. Results indicate that AIME was most commonly (but not exclusively) referred to in the area of educational psychology indicating its importance regarding learning and education, thereby investigating print and TV, as well as new media. From a methodological perspective, research applied various research methods (e.g., longitudinal studies, experimental designs, theoretical analysis) and samples (e.g., children, college students, low income families). From these findings, the importance of AIME for further research is discussed.

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We conducted two computer-mediated speed dating studies to evaluate personality perception based on language use in online dating and analyzed the data with Bayesian statistics. In each study, participants first reported mating-relevant personality traits (Big Five, sociosexual orientation) and we assessed their intelligence (N1 = 186, N2 = 618). Subsequently, we conducted computer-mediated speed dating sessions at our laboratory (n1 = 56, n2 = 94). After the first chat, participants rated their chat partner on the constructs mentioned above (i.e., personality and intelligence). Linguistic patterns in the chats were analyzed using LIWC. In both studies, consistent evidence showed that online daters systematically rated partners with higher IQ and extraversion scores as more intelligent and extraverted above chance. We also derived different linguistic cues as potential mediators from earlier studies. Empirical evidence proved very strongly against mediation based on such linguistic cues. Hence, although people are able to make correct inferences about the personality and intelligence of potential mates in the dynamic setting of speed dating, it remains unclear which cues they rely on.