Men Were Nearly 3 Times More Likely to Swipe Right on Dating Profiles After an Exciting VR Game
A virtual reality experiment suggests that excitement from a fast-paced game can spill over into how men judge potential partners on dating apps. Men who played an intense VR rhythm game were far more likely to approve simulated profiles than those who explored a calm digital forest.
The study, titled High Arousal, High Attraction? A Virtual-Reality Experiment Testing the Arousal-Misattribution-Hypothesis in Online Dating, is currently available as a preprint on SSRN and has been submitted to Computers in Human Behavior Reports. It adds a contemporary, technology-focused perspective to decades of psychological research and raises questions about how virtual experiences may subtly influence the rapid judgments involved in modern digital dating.
The research examined how non-romantic arousal affects online dating decisions. It builds on the arousal misattribution hypothesis, which proposes that people can mistake general physiological excitement for romantic or sexual attraction.
Testing misattribution in virtual reality
Previous research on misattributed arousal has relied on real-world situations such as frightening bridges or theme park rides. The new study, led by Bahar Gürer and Yannik A. Escher of Leuphana University Lüneburg, aimed to bring this work into the digital age of swiping and dating profiles.
Researchers recruited 130 university students with an average age of about 23 and randomly assigned them to one of two VR conditions. One group spent three minutes exploring a tranquil forest environment, while the other played the high-intensity VR game Beat Saber for the same amount of time.
After the VR session, participants viewed eight mock dating profiles designed to resemble those on a modern dating app and tailored to their sexual orientation. They rated each profile for attractiveness, sexual warmth, compatibility, perceived similarity and likelihood of mutual interest before deciding whether to approve or reject it.
Excitement boosts approval rates for men
Overall, participants in the high-arousal group rated profiles as more attractive and sexually warm than those in the low-arousal group. They also perceived greater similarity and compatibility and expected more reciprocity from the people shown, although their stated willingness to go on an actual date did not reach statistical significance.
The arousing VR experience increased the overall probability of approving a profile from 17.4 percent to 24.9 percent. However, when researchers separated the results by gender, a clear difference emerged, with men driving most of the effect.
Men who relaxed in the virtual forest approved just 11.3 percent of the profiles they viewed. In contrast, men who played Beat Saber approved 31.4 percent, making them nearly three times more likely to swipe right after the intense game than after the calm VR experience.
Women’s decisions were largely unaffected by the VR condition. Women in the high-arousal group approved 20.5 percent of profiles, compared with 23.3 percent in the low-arousal group — a small difference in the opposite direction. Their ratings of attractiveness and compatibility also remained stable.
Why men and women may differ
The authors connect the findings to theories suggesting that men may rely more heavily on bodily cues when interpreting their feelings. Women, by comparison, may give greater weight to contextual and relational information when evaluating potential partners.
Commenting on the research, Rui Miguel Costa of Universidade Europeia, who was not involved in the study, said the findings align with previous evidence. Earlier research has shown that exposure to arousing situations can increase subsequent sexual arousal and the perceived attractiveness of opposite-sex individuals.
Costa cautioned, however, that separating a person’s appeal from the surrounding environment can be difficult in real life. He argued that arousal generated by other people and arousal produced by context are closely intertwined, making the clear misattribution observed in laboratory settings more complicated outside controlled conditions.
Limitations and future directions
The authors stress that the paper is a preprint and has not yet undergone peer review, meaning its methods and conclusions still require formal scrutiny. Replication by independent researchers will be important before firm conclusions can be drawn about how VR-induced excitement influences dating app behavior.
Another limitation is the use of self-reported arousal rather than objective physiological measures such as heart rate or skin conductance. Because people can misjudge or have difficulty labeling their bodily states, future studies could use wearable sensors to collect more precise physiological data.
The design of the dating profiles may also have influenced the findings. Although the faces varied in attractiveness, none were rated as highly attractive overall, and participants’ evaluations were generally low. The researchers note that stronger or different effects could emerge with more striking or polarizing profiles.
The experiment also took place in a low-stakes environment where approving a profile had no real-world consequences. Actual dating apps involve potential conversations, in-person meetings and the possibility of rejection, all of which may influence how users interpret their feelings and make decisions.
The authors compared their findings with the classic 1974 suspension bridge study and found that the modern effect size was approximately half as large. This difference could reflect the lower emotional stakes of swiping on a screen, conscious discounting of arousal from an obvious source such as a game, or overestimation of the effect in the small original sample.
Costa suggested that future research should directly ask participants whether they are aware of these influences. He argued that many people may consciously recognize that thrilling experiences increase their romantic interest, an issue that has rarely been explored directly in previous experiments.
