Speed dating

**Speed dating** is a formal dating process for singles. It is a fun way to meet a large number of new people in a short period of time. Singles spend three-to-five minute periods of time with as many as 25 prospective partners. The conversations are about whatever the two chose. The events are held at places like coffee shops. There is usually a fee and the rules can vary. The short period of time between couples ranges by event. Each participant has a sheet of paper on which they note "interested" or "not interested". The organizer of the event gathers the comments at the end of the event. They look for possible matches and after two or three days contact each participant to see if they are interested in dating the other person. The price for the service ranges from $20 to $80.

## Scientific research

Several studies have been done. Some focues on the round-robin systems, others on the fact that people felt attracted ot one another.  Both factors are relevant in these events.   Other studies found speed-dating data useful as a way to observe individual choices among random participants.

### First impressions

A 2005 study at the University of Pennsylvania of multiple HurryDate speed dating events found that most people made their choices within the first three seconds of meeting. Furthermore, issues such as religion, previous marriages, and smoking habits were found to play much less of a role than expected.

A 2006 study in Edinburgh, Scotland showed that 45% of the women participants in a speed-dating event and 22% of the men had come to a decision within the first 30 seconds. It also found that dialogue concerning travel resulted in more matches than dialogue about films.

In a 2012 study, researchers found that activation of specific brain regions while viewing images of opposite-sex speed dating participants was predictive of whether or not a participant would later pursue or reject the viewed participants at an actual speed dating event. Men and women made decisions in a similar manner which incorporated the physical attractiveness and likability of the viewed participants in their evaluation.

### Subconscious preferences

Malcolm Gladwell's book on split-second decision making, _Blink,_ introduces two professors at Columbia University who run speed-dating events.  Drs. Sheena Iyengar and Raymond Fisman found, from having the participants fill out questionnaires, that what people said they wanted in an ideal mate did not match their subconscious preferences.

### Olfaction and the MHC

A 1995 study at the University of Bern showed that women appear to be attracted to the smell of men who have different MHC profiles from their own, and that oral contraceptives reversed this effect.

The MHC is a region of the human genome involved with immune function. Because parents with more diverse MHC profiles would be expected to produce offspring with stronger immune systems, dissimilar MHC may play a role in sexual selection.

A speed date lasting several minutes may be long enough for the MHC hypothesis to come into play, provided the participants are seated close enough together.

### Olfaction and pheromones

The TV news magazine _20/20_ once sent both a male and a female set of twins to a speed dating event.  One of each set was wearing pheromones, and the ones wearing pheromones received more matches.

### Age and height preference

A 2006 study by Michèle Belot and Marco Francesconi into the relative effects of preference versus opportunity in mate selection showed that a woman's age is the single most important factor determining demand by men. Although less important than it is to men, age is still a highly significant factor determining demand by women.

The same study found that a man's height had a significant impact upon his desirability, with a reduction in height causing a decrease in desirability at the rate of 5% per inch.

### Selectivity

Studies of speed dating events generally show more selectivity among women than among men. For instance, the Penn study reported that the average man was chosen by 34% of the women and the average woman was chosen by 49% of the men. New studies suggest that the selectivity is based on which gender is seated and which is rotating. It was shown that when men were seated and the women rotated, the men were more selective.