\n
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nI<\/span>n news bound to thrill and terrify straight men everywhere, they can now be assessed on their potential as a romantic partner by taking a boyfriend test. At least, that\u2019s the theory of a team of researchers at Oakland University, who analysed 202 heterosexual men who\u2019d been in relationships for at least six months and found that those with better problem-solving skills and abilities to spot patterns made steadier and more reliable partners. In other words, the nerds did best.<\/p>\nThe authors of the study, led by data analyst and social scientist Gavin Vance, found that the men they studied who had a very specific type of intelligence \u2013 the ability to spot patterns in sequences of numbers and letters \u2013 were less likely to be tempted to take risks outside of a relationship, and were therefore more likely to stay faithful to their partner. They were also less likely to have displayed jealousy, exhibited controlling behaviours or insulted their partner, in addition to displaying fewer signs of psychopathic traits. <\/p>\n
It goes against everything women are conditioned to be attracted to: brooding bad boys with a penchant for writing tortured poetry in their Notes apps, wearing vintage leather jackets, and being emotionally unavailable. In other words, the pained souls that pop culture has forever held up as lascivious lotharios. He\u2019s Gossip Girl<\/em>\u2019s Chuck Bass. The OC<\/em>\u2019s Ryan Atwood. The Vampire Diaries<\/em>\u2019 Damon Salvatore. And so on. Rarely are the maths geeks at the top of their class upheld as the good boyfriend, but science has different ideas. <\/p>\nWhether we are ready for the lesson is debatable. The allure of the hot mess bad boy persists. Just last month, a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality <\/em>found that the nicer the guy, the less likely he is to have a romantic partner.<\/p>\nAfter analysing data from 3,780 adults in Australia, Denmark and Sweden, the study found that neuroticism and agreeableness had negative associations in men. Meanwhile, men who were outgoing, confident and sociable were significantly more likely to be in a relationship compared to those who were more introverted. For women, the opposite was true. \u201cAn assertive, extroverted man may get positive responses when approaching potential partners, while an assertive woman might face ambivalence or negativity,\u201d said the study\u2019s co-author, Filip Fors Connolly, an associate professor of sociology and psychology at Umea University in Sweden. <\/p>\n
And so heterosexual women have a problem: we\u2019re more likely to shun the quiet geeks with a steady head on their shoulders, even though they\u2019re probably going to be the best partners. How to get around this? <\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Slick and sinister: Chuck Bass from \u2018Gossip Girl\u2019 is a perfect example of a guy to stay well away from, according to this recent study (HBO)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDon\u2019t worry, there is an app for that, or probably will be soon. In a predominantly digital dating landscape that is constantly advancing, in which AI is being integrated into most platforms, it\u2019s not hard to envisage a world where good boyfriend and girlfriend tests do actually exist. Yes, it might all sound a bit Black Mirror<\/em>, but matchmaking technology has existed for years and is already being used by apps to help tailor our preferences, a process that AI promises to improve. \u201cWhere AI is brilliant is that it can learn patterns,\u201d said Bumble\u2019s CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd in an interview with The New York Times<\/em> published earlier this year. \u201cIt can then scan hundreds of profiles if not more and it can say, \u2018Hey, I think you should meet this person because they have similar values.\u2019 That\u2019s where sorting and machine learning can be really powerful.\u201d<\/p>\nThe subject of artificially engineered matchmaking to the degree where an algorithm can introduce you to your soulmate is even the subject of a recent film, All of You<\/em>, directed and co-written by William Bridges, who has also written for Black Mirror<\/em>. Starring Imogen Poots and Brett Goldstein, the film takes place in a world in which a company called Soul Connex offers to pair you up with your life partner via a single test. It\u2019s easy to see how ripe this concept is for drama, and how easily the idea of the test could be subverted: can we ever truly find the person we\u2019re meant to be with through a third-party service, no matter how advanced it is?<\/p>\nWe\u2019ll have to wait a few years to see when things like this inevitably enter the dating market. But in the meantime, perhaps straight women can follow the advice of Oakland University\u2019s research team, boosting their chances of finding lasting love by dating the guy with the analytical problem-solving skills instead of the guy writing the bad poetry and dreaming of being in a band. A good egghead, if you will. <\/p>\n
Of course, all this is based on a relatively small sample size, and Vance\u2019s team has stressed that the study is correlational and so can\u2019t prove cause and effect. But that doesn\u2019t render the idea of a boyfriend exam any less fascinating, particularly when you really think about what really makes a man a keeper. So, with that in mind, here are the five questions I reckon you should be asking your potential suitors for your very own boyfriend test \u2013 do take them with a pinch of salt:<\/p>\n
\n
\nHave you ever ghosted anyone, or left them on \u201cread\u201d for longer than 48 hours? (permissible in exceptional circumstances, ie stolen phone or sudden death)<\/li>\n How much therapy have you had? (minimum requirement of five hours)<\/li>\n How many exes have you labelled \u201ccrazy\u201d instead of analysing your own contribution to the downfall of a relationship? (ideally zero)<\/li>\n Have you ever written a woman a poem instead of clearly communicating your feelings? (avoid if so)<\/li>\n Are you an actor or musician? (the correct answer should be obvious to this one)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\nNow you know, test and act accordingly. Godspeed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more In news bound to thrill and terrify straight men everywhere, they can now be assessed on their potential as a romantic partner by taking a boyfriend test. At least, that\u2019s the theory of a team of researchers at Oakland University, who analysed 202 heterosexual men who\u2019d been in relationships for at least six months and found that those with better problem-solving skills and abilities to spot patterns made steadier and more reliable partners. In other words, the nerds did best. The authors of the study, led by data analyst and social scientist Gavin Vance, found that the men they studied who had a very specific type of intelligence \u2013 the ability to spot patterns in sequences of numbers and letters \u2013 were less likely to be tempted to take risks outside of a relationship, and were therefore more likely to stay faithful to their partner. They were also less likely to have displayed jealousy, exhibited controlling behaviours or insulted their partner, in addition to displaying fewer signs of psychopathic traits. It goes a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}