When trying to find a new partner, one necessary step is to flirt with some potential people. Many of us, including me, are not particularly good at it. Some ways of flirting are dealbreakers, and researchers want to know which ways of flirting hurt the prospects of finding a new partner.

The researchers asked 212 Greek-speaking men and women about their flirting deal breakers. Participants were asked to imagine being approached by an interested person, and write down what behaviors or traits would turn them off. The results of the open-ended question were analyzed, and a list of 69 items of “flirting turn-offs” was made. This list was then shown to 734 Greek-speaking people, and they were asked to what extent each item would turn them off.

Results from the second round of participants was statistically analyzed, which helped the researchers summarize the 69 items into 11 sets of factors. The top 3 factors were bad hygiene, lack of exclusive interest, and slimy approach.

Sex and age differences were seen in the results as well. Men rated items related to looks as being bigger deal breakers than women, however women rated almost all of the 11 factors higher than men, indicating a higher sensitivity to dealbreakers. With an increase of age, also came with an increase in the rating of the dealbreakers. Researchers believe this indicates that people tend to raise their standards as they age.

As all of the participants were residents of Greece, the findings can not be generalized outside of this context, but it is a good starting point.

Original article: https://www.psypost.org/2022/05/being-slimy-and-having-bad-hygiene-are-among-the-top-dealbreakers-in-a-potential-partner-study-finds-63109

Study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886922001696