A study aimed to discover how enhancing your photo on dating sites may change people's perceptions of you and found that the results were different for women and men.
In the study, scientists at the University of Connecticut analyzed 305 subjects aged between 17 and 36. They showed participants photos of opposite sex members with some altered and some natural. The researchers then asked each subject to rate the photos and the people in the pictures on trustworthiness, attractiveness, similarities, desirability in regards to dating.
Scientists found that men viewed women with enhanced photos as less trustworthy but more attractive. On the other hand, women viewed men with enhanced photos as more attractive and more trustworthy.
Researcher Rory McGloin said that trust is a vital part of any relationship and it definitely plays a significant role in the building of new social bonds in the dating context. McGloin further said that they found an interesting relationship between trust and attractiveness for men who were viewing profile pictures of women, The Economic Times reported. Males typically found the more beautified and therefore more attractive profile to be less trustworthy.
The research also found that men found the beautified profile as more attractive and had an increased desire to date the person in the photo despite the lower degree of trustworthiness they reported. This finding indicates that even when males suspect that a female may not look exactly like she does in her profile picture, they are ready to take the chance and pursue a date with her, according to Tech Times. McGloin said that attraction appears to be more important than trust in their sample.