Study: Larger dating pool means ... dumber dating choices?

In larger groups, people are more likely to use physical characteristics, such as height and weight, to make their dating choice — features that don’t take much time to assess — the study researchers say. In contrast, people in smaller groups are more likely to pay attention to characteristics that require some “getting to know you” conversation, such as whether or not the potential partner went to college or is a smoker.

Since people can only take in so much information at a given time, it makes sense that they would focus on different mate characteristics in different situations, said Alison Lenton, a psychologists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.