Threat perception in online dating: How facial features and biographies impact women’s choices

A new study published in Computers in Human Behavior sheds light on how women perceive potential threats in online dating profiles, revealing that women are generally less likely to express interest in men whose profiles contain subtle cues of threat. These cues include both facial features and written content that suggest a higher likelihood of sexual aggression. Interestingly, typical online dating safety recommendations appear to have little effect on enhancing women’s sensitivity to these threat-related cues.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many social issues, including domestic and sexual violence against women. Reports of increased domestic violence and emergency shelter requests surged during lockdowns, and misogynistic behaviors also rose significantly. Online dating platforms, which saw increased usage during this period, present additional risks for women. These platforms can facilitate encounters with men prone to sexual aggression, making it crucial to understand how women identify and respond to threat cues in these contexts.

“I was initially involved and interested in working with incarcerated women who had been victimized, but given COVID and limited access to research opportunities involving populations within the justice system, we shifted gears and explored another topic potentially related to threat perceptions and victimization in an online context,” said first author Shelby Shuster.

“We then had many conversations about the potential of conducting work on perceptions of threat and how these perceptions might impact other perceptions related to dating, such as attractiveness,” added senior author Shawn Geniole, an assistant professor at the University of the Fraser Valley.

“Around that same time, stories were surfacing regarding dates that had gone horribly wrong, or where individuals had sexually aggressed against their dates during an encounter or meeting that they had arranged through an online dating platform. So, together, we began wondering about how sensitive individuals were to potential cues of sexual threat or aggression within these online dating contexts. We were really surprised to find little/no experimental work examining the effect of such threat-related cues on expressions of interest within online dating.”

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To explore how threat-related cues in online dating profiles affect women’s interest, researchers conducted an online dating simulation with 172 female participants aged around 19.72 years. These participants were recruited from introductory psychology courses at the researchers’ institution.

Participants first completed a series of baseline questionnaires to gather demographic data and measure individual differences such as sensation seeking, trait anxiety, attachment styles, and preferences for dominant partners. They were then randomly assigned to either receive online dating safety recommendations or proceed without them.

During the online dating simulation, participants viewed four dating profiles of men, each manipulated to appear either high or low in facial and biographical threat. Facial threat was altered using validated techniques to adjust the structure and shape of facial features, making them appear more or less threatening. Biographical threat was manipulated by adjusting the wording of the profiles to suggest varying levels of traits associated with sexual aggression, such as narcissism, impulsiveness, and hostility towards women.

After viewing each profile, participants indicated their interest in dating the man depicted and rated him on various traits, including perceived threat and attractiveness. Finally, participants completed a questionnaire on their history of sexual victimization before being debriefed.

Women showed significantly less interest in men with high-threat facial features and biographical details. Interestingly, individual differences played a role in moderating threat sensitivity. Women with higher levels of sensation seeking, particularly boredom susceptibility, and those with a preference for dominant partners were less averse to high-threat profiles. This finding indicates that personal traits and preferences can influence how women perceive and react to potential threats in online dating.

“Women in our study appeared quite sensitive and averse to these cues of threat in the context of our online dating simulation,” the researchers told PsyPost. “Specifically, the probability of them expressing interest (or, in other words, swiping right) dropped by ~57% when the online dating profile featured a man with a more threatening looking face and by ~81% when it featured a blurb or biography that contained more threat-related cues or language (e.g., language suggesting the individual dehumanizes or sexually objectifies women and is more hostile towards them).”

“There was also some variability, though, such that some women seemed less sensitive and averse to these high-threat profiles, but—in any case—general safety recommendations/tips that are sometimes used on online dating websites did not appear to boost this threat sensitivity or aversion.”

However, the safety recommendations provided to some participants did not enhance this threat sensitivity. The recommendations neither increased nor decreased women’s aversion to high-threat profiles, suggesting that these typical online dating safety tips may not be effective in modulating threat perception.

“We were quite surprised to find that the type of general safety recommendations/tips sometimes used on online dating platforms had no effect on expressions of interest and did not increase sensitivity/aversion to threat,” Shuster and Geniole said. “If anything, women exposed to these recommendations seemed to find the men featured in the low- (rather than high-) threat profiles less attractive and desirable. In other words, the safety recommendations did not reduce women’s attraction to and interest in the high threat men.”

But as with any study, there are some limitations to consider. The sample consisted predominantly of young, white, heterosexual women with some level of post-secondary education, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to more diverse populations.

“One major caveat is that we designed these profiles to appear more or less threatening, but many individuals likely engage in masking or deception in online dating platforms, potentially making threat detection more difficult,” Shuster and Geniole noted. “Although some cues of threat likely leak into these online profiles, they may not be as explicit in real world online dating scenarios. More work is needed in these more authentic online dating interactions.”

“Another caveat is that our study focused on women investigating men’s online profiles, but it will be important to extend this work by examining the role of threat perceptions in other, more diverse populations and dating contexts/interests.”

“We may follow up this work in the lab by addressing some of these limitations mentioned above,” Geniole said.

The study, “Women’s sensitivity to threat in online dating and the (in)effectiveness of standard safety warnings,” was authored by Shelby Shuster, Brian M. Bird, Tatiana Buhler, Alayna Witzel, and Shawn N. Geniole.