What you see is what you want to get: Perceived abilities outperform objective test performance in predicting mate appeal in speed dating

Abstract

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. We want to thank Angelina Felber for her contribution to data collection, Jaap Denissen, Robert Ackerman, and Avraham N. Kluger for their input regarding the use of multilevel modeling for speed-dating data, and Mathias Benedek, Simon Ceh, and Ana Arsenović for their feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Who knows what we are good at? Unique insights of the self, knowledgeable informants, and strangers into a person’s abilities

“…However, current findings-based on data reported here (Hofer et al, 2021) and another study (Driebe et al, 2021)-suggest that these abilities might actually play a lesser role for initial attraction.…”

“…Similarly, social-emotional components or other, more general characteristics of the interaction could have contributed to all of these estimates. Indeed, speed-dating ratings of liking, which we reported on elsewhere in more detail (Hofer et al, 2021), correlated at between .5 and .7 with stranger-estimates of verbal, intrapersonal, and interpersonal abilities (and considerably less with estimates of numerical, spatial, and creative abilities). The interconnectedness of stranger's perceptions of a person's verbal and social-emotional abilities and their relation to liking is an interesting topic for future research.…”

“…Data for the present study were collected within a larger research project on abilities, interpersonal perception, and romantic attraction. Results on another research question focusing on the relationship between romantic attraction and intelligence, creativity, and emotional management abilities are reported elsewhere (Hofer et al, 2021). In line with community standards (Simmons et al, 2012), we report how we determined our sample size, all data exclusions, and all measures in the study.…”

“…Instead, it appears that, in first interactions, easily observable characteristics like physical attractiveness play a greater role, with abilities potentially becoming relevant at a later stage (see also G. F. Miller & Todd, 1998). The centrality of physical attractiveness at first, short dates might have further impeded accuracy: Stranger-estimates in the majority of ability domains showed positive correlations-some of them as high as .6 to .7-with those of of physical attractiveness (for detailed results see Hofer et al, 2021). Thus, participants might have equated their interaction partner's attractiveness with their cognitive, creative, and emotional abilities, irrespective of whether they were actually competent in these domains (see also Langlois et al, 2000).…”

“…These photos were used for physical attractiveness ratings that are not relevant to the present research questions (for a detailed description seeHofer et al, 2021).…”