Dating & Communicationarticle · beginner · 5 min
First Date Psychology
What actually predicts romantic connection — beyond attraction A landmark 2003 study by Sprecher in Personal Relationships followed hundreds of first dates and found that the factors most strongly predicting romantic interest after the encounter were: perceived similarity in values and attitudes, sense of humour reciprocity, responsiveness to what the other person said, and physical attractiveness — in that order. A date on which the other person felt genuinely listened to was consistently rated more positively than one in which the listener was more physically attractive but less attentive.
