Quickie: Looking for Love? Get Outraged!

Study shows that expressing moral outrage increases perceived attractiveness

Are you looking for love, but think that expressing your moral outrage about an issue will decrease your chances of getting dates? According to a study recently published in Emotion, you have nothing to worry about, so rage away.

“Women incur a substantially larger minimal cost in reproduction…compared with men…, which necessitates employment of stringent mate selection criteria to offset these costs.”

In a series of four studies, 870 participants were asked to look at fictional dating profiles and rate the attractiveness of these prospective mates. Researchers found that both men and women thought people who expressed moral outrage about different issues were more attractive than those who did not. This was especially so among women, which researchers surmise is because women associated moral outrage with benevolence and trustworthiness — qualities that make men more suitable long-term partners.

“Women incur a substantially larger minimal cost in reproduction (e.g., nine-month gestation, lactation) compared with men (e.g., single instance of sperm provision), which necessitates employment of stringent mate selection criteria to offset these costs,” study authors explained.

However, the researchers warn that this does not give you absolute free reign to rage on your dating profile. Although expressing moral outrage does cause potential daters to attribute certain positive qualities to you, if you don’t also demonstrate that you’re doing something in the real world to help change the things you’re outraged about, it could actually create a negative impression. As a result, outrage without action can cause people viewing your profile to attribute undesirable qualities to you, like disagreeableness and neuroticism.

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Source:

Moral outrage is attractive among long-term relationship seekers. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210308131722.htm