The age-old debate about money versus personality when looking for a romantic partner may finally be solved.
Having a desired personality wins over the amount of money a potential suitor has, according to a new international study published Apr. 4, by European researchers at universities in York and Essex.
Researchers examined the language in over a million “lonely hearts” advertisements in publications from Canada, France and India between 1950 to 1995. They also researched 41 regional newspapers from 1995 in Canada and the U.S.
The data was compiled into four categories: economic, personality, physical (referring to preference for body types) and taste (including one’s hobbies and interests). Each grouping allowed researchers to determine broader trends per country over time.
The results reveal that economic factors, such as one’s income, when it comes to dating have steadily decreased in comparison to the importance of having favourable character traits in the U.S., Canada and France, particularly after the 1960s.
However, data revealed finances remained an important factor in relationships in India, specifically in the 1970s, while personality factors stayed the same.
In ads for women in Canada and the U.S. between 1950 to 1995, 40 to 45 per cent used words to describe their ideal partner relating to personality traits, and 10 per cent mentioned finances.
Thirty-five to forty per cent of lonely hearts ads for men centered on personality and only five per cent on money.
Until the 1970s, 35 per cent of words shared in Indian ads related to finances, and in the 1970s, frequency of said language began to rise to nearly 60 per cent in 1995.
Researchers say gender disparity in the data showed a greater rise in the importance of economic factors in ads placed for women than ads for men.
“Once India’s economy develops further, and the current generation are more secure financially, they may show a change in preference for personality factors as well,” Khushboo Surana, study co-author from the University of York’s Department of Economics, said in the news release.
“This would align them with the trends we see in the Western countries we sampled,” she continued.
