Want to Look More Confident on Tinder? Straighten Your Posture

Impact

Your parents always told you to sit up straight. Little did they know, they'd be helping you score some sweet, sweet Tinder dates.

The 21st-century dating world doesn't allow much time for deliberation. Take Tinder: It demands an immediate decision on "Jake, 25" (and his labradoodle) before it lets you ogle anybody else.

Thankfully, there's a simple body adjustment that'll instantly make you more attractive to potential mates: good posture. 

The key concept is called "postural expansiveness" — how much you expand your body in physical space, according to new findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Taking up space suggests a person is dominant and powerful — and, in turn, makes us more romantically attracted to them. (This may or may not extend to subway manspreaders.)

"We've seen it in the animal world, that taking up more space and maximizing presence in a physical space is used as [a] signal for attracting a mate," study co-author Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk said, according to CNN. "By exerting dominance, they're trying to signal to a potential mate, 'I am able to do things, I have a space in this hierarchy, I have access to resources.'"

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The findings were the product of two studies: one involving speed-dating, the other involving a "popular Global Positioning System-based online-dating application," according to the study.

In the first, researchers analyzed footage of 144 speed-dating sessions, noting the participants' nonverbal cues. Afterwards, they had participants answer questions about the other daters — including who they'd like to see again.

Every time a person exhibited postural expansiveness, it nearly doubled their odds of getting a "yes" from their speed-dating partner, according to the study.

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Then came the study on that "popular GPS-based online-dating application." The researchers took six heterosexual people and made two online dating profiles for each — one in which the person took up lots of space, the other in which the person appeared small and constricted. Then, they released the profiles unto the thirsty masses for a weekend, keeping track of how many positive interactions each one received.

"Mate-seekers were significantly more likely to select partners displaying an expansive (vs. contractive) nonverbal posture," the researchers found. 

There you have it: The key to success in online dating. As long as your don't send unsolicited dick pics — and good lord, don't make "hey ;)" your default opening line — you should be good to go.

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