This Study Shows Why Women Should Always Make The First Move

When it comes to online dating, the evidence seems to point in one direction: Women who make the first move are more successful in their matchmaking endeavors.

A compelling case for that viewpoint was made by OkCupid, which put together a study that surveyed its users' habits. Among the most interesting findings of the study, over 40 percent of women prefer to split the check than not. Also, straight men are more than three times as likely to make the first move, or send the first message, than women.

Most importantly though, women who do actually make the first move experience more success on the dating platform.

OkCupid's study found when straight women send the first message, it's more likely to result in a conversation. A similar level of success is found for bisexual women, while gay users experience identical rates of success across genders.

The study attributed the clear disparity to a very simple assertion: "Men tend to respond, a lot."

The study also asserted making the first move strengthens a woman's chances at engaging more attractive counterparts.

The study explained,

Let's break that down: based on what we know, if you're a woman and receive a message, the man who sent it is about 5 percentile points less attractive than you. But if you send the first hello, the man is about 7 percentile points more attractive than you. So if you typically wait to be approached, you could elevate your game by about 12 percent points just by sending the first message.

While OkCupid's study only considers factors for its own platform, there's an easy case to be made these numbers could apply to real-world situations as well.

After all, it isn't exactly difficult to imagine men being just as eager to respond to women's advances, say, at a bar. Meanwhile, the idea of women being more likely to have conversations with more attractive men when they take control of the situation makes all the sense in the world.

But, that's just my hunch. The numbers, however, speak clearly.

Women who make the first move experience more dating success online, if not IRL.

Citations: A woman's advantage (OkCupid)