NPR: Online Dating: Liars with Their Pants on Fire

Online Dating: Liars with Their Pants on Fire

Whatever you do, don't lie to Jeff Hancock. The Cornell University professor makes a living out of separating truth from fabrication. On our show today, Hancock talks about a study his lab did into online dating profiles.

Forty men and 40 women submitted their profiles and then let the Cornell team assess, point by point, how closely they'd stuck to the truth. The results shouldn't surprise anyone who's shown up for a blind coffee date -- 80 percent of the online daters lied about something. But men and women lie differently, as you can see in the charts detailing truthfulness about weight, height and age below. Each respondent is a red dot, with truth-tellers on the diagonal line.

Truthfulness about weight, by gender:

The straight arrows are on the diagonal line.

Courtesy of Cornell University

Truthfulness about height, by gender:

The straight arrows are on the diagonal line.

Courtesy of Cornell University

Truthfulness about age, by gender:

The straight arrows are on the diagonal line.

Courtesy of Cornell University

Laura Conaway

7:20 AM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink

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