In the immortal words of Dr. House, everybody lies. The kind old lady next door who knocked over your garbage can and said hooligans ran by and kicked them. Your pal who says she’s 15 minutes away when she really just got out of the shower. And yes, even the person you’re getting serious with who you met on an online dating site. Especially the person you met on an online dating site in fact, according to a survey propagated by WhatsYourPrice, an online dating auction site.
To be more specific, their studies show that a third of New York’s online dating population are more than comfortable embellishing a few details about themselves so they can snag good matches. Although their own survey shows New York trailing behind Washington D.C. and Atlanta as the top three most dishonest cities in the country, other similar studies performed gauging The National Honesty Index even go as far as showcasing Brooklyn and Chelsea – both in New York – in the top three when it comes to lying.
Women have been found more inclined to lie than men, usually about their age and weight (gals deduct an average of 8.5 pounds from their actual weight, according to a University of Wisconsin study). On the other hand, guys on online dating sites generally fib about their relationship status (be careful, ladies!), incomes, and height. Both genders tend to stretch the truth about their appearance (cropping is a skill), their current employment or educational attainment (or lack thereof), and hobbies (especially the not-so-legal ones).
Don’t completely lose hope though – of the 40 million people in the U.S. who’ve tried online dating, 20 percent are currently in committed relationships, and 17 percent of marriages last year are courtesy of online dating. Of course, there’s a big chance that the person you’re talking to is a sex offender, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you take extra precaution. It’s also good to know what sort of things people usually lie about on their dating profiles so you’re not surprised when you finally take the plunge and meet up in person.
