Why one match a day is enough on dating sites

WITH thousands of singles available on dating apps, it may be tempting to cast the net far and wide when looking for love.

But a study from Oxford University suggests singles have the mental capacity only to effectively communicate with around seven new people per week, even though they might have access to hundreds of potential “matches”.

A study of 150,000 users of eharmony found that although the average person contacts 12 new people a week, they engage with far fewer, suggesting that people should not take a lack of reply too personally.

Patrick Gildersleve, a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, added: “We were motivated by research on the cognitive limit on the number of social connections humans can maintain.

“Users on eharmony are particularly invested in finding a long-term romantic partner, so we are confident that these findings are applicable to noncasual courtship behaviour in general.”

The findings are in line with Dunbar’s Number – a theory by Prof Robin Dunbar, of Oxford – which says people can only maintain very close contact with around 10 people, but have a wider social network of about 150.

Researchers found 95 per cent of users send requests to 12 new people at most per week, and reply to less than seven, suggesting people also feel they have a maximum communication limit when looking for a long relationship.