11.12.08 Read to get lucky in love
We judge potential partners by their book or magazine cover
Lying about something you’ve read to impress the person you fancy is the second most common dating deceit, after fibbing about your previous sexual conquests, new research from the National Year of Reading reveals today.
People are more likely to lie about what they’ve read than their age or job, with more than a third (39 per cent) bending the truth about their reading material to friends and potential partners. Men are twice as likely as women to exaggerate their reading habits to impress a potential partner, mainly in order to appear more romantic or intellectual. The research was commissioned by the National Year of Reading as part of its commitment to explore the importance of reading in every area of life.
The study lists the reads most likely to help us get the guy or girl of our dreams. While men and women shared a love of cookery books, poetry and song lyrics, men said women who read current affairs websites would impress them the most, suggesting that they find partners who can display a factual knowledge of the outside world more attractive. Women, on the other hand, put men who read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography top of their list as it shows a more sensitive understanding of world issues, through a personal lens.
The research shows we believe that what we read reveals something about our personality, so we try to use this to our advantage when dating:
Almost one in five adults (18 per cent) would read whilst waiting for their date to arrive in the hope of making a good first impression
Men are twice as likely as women to read poetry or Heat magazine to impress a potential partner
Almost half (47%) of teens drop it into conversation and a quarter (24%) of teens back that up with evidence by leaving their reading material visible in their bag
A quarter (26 per cent) of adults use reading to clinch the deal with a prospective lover in the bedroom by strategically leaving evidence of reading material they’ve talked about during the date by the bed
[...]
Top ten reads to impress a man:
1. Current Affairs websites
2. Shakespeare
3. Song lyrics
4. Cookery books
5. Poetry
6. Nelson Mandela autobiography [Long Walk to Freedom]
7. Jane Austen
8. Facebook/Myspace
9. Religious texts
10. Financial Times
Top ten reads to impress a woman:
1. Nelson Mandela autobiography [Long Walk to Freedom]
2. Shakespeare
3. Cookery books
4. Poetry
5. Song lyrics
6. Current affairs websites
7. Text messages
8. Emails
9. Financial Times
10. Facebook
Top 10 reads to impress a teenage guy:
1. Facebook/Myspace
2. Text messages
3. Harry Potter
4. Song lyrics
5. Emails
6. Current affairs websites
7. Zoo/Nuts
8. Poetry
9. Metro
10. Shakespeare
Top 10 reads to impress a teenage girl:
1. Facebook/Myspace
2. Text messages
3. Song lyrics
4. Cookery books
5. Harry Potter
6. Poetry
7. Emails
8. Jane Austen
9. Shakespeare
10. Heat
• Almost one in five (19%) of teenagers have lied about what they’ve read to impress a potential partner
• Almost three quarters (74%) have lied about what they’ve read to impress friends and potential partners
Top 5 teen dating deceits:
• Films
• Reading
• Sexual conquests
• Age
• Job
• Almost a quarter (24%) of teens would like their potential partner to read Facebook/Myspace.
• Although modern technology proved popular in the romantic reading stakes, Shakespeare still made it into the top ten pulling picks for both male and female teenagers.
• When using reading to impress a potential partner, almost half of teens (47%) would drop it into conversation whilst nearly a quarter (24%) would leave it visible in their bag ...
http://www.yearofreading.org.uk/index.php?id=429
Lying about something you’ve read to impress the person you fancy is the second most common dating deceit, after fibbing about your previous sexual conquests, new research from the National Year of Reading reveals today.
People are more likely to lie about what they’ve read than their age or job, with more than a third (39 per cent) bending the truth about their reading material to friends and potential partners. Men are twice as likely as women to exaggerate their reading habits to impress a potential partner, mainly in order to appear more romantic or intellectual. The research was commissioned by the National Year of Reading as part of its commitment to explore the importance of reading in every area of life.
The study lists the reads most likely to help us get the guy or girl of our dreams. While men and women shared a love of cookery books, poetry and song lyrics, men said women who read current affairs websites would impress them the most, suggesting that they find partners who can display a factual knowledge of the outside world more attractive. Women, on the other hand, put men who read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography top of their list as it shows a more sensitive understanding of world issues, through a personal lens.
The research shows we believe that what we read reveals something about our personality, so we try to use this to our advantage when dating:
Almost one in five adults (18 per cent) would read whilst waiting for their date to arrive in the hope of making a good first impression
Men are twice as likely as women to read poetry or Heat magazine to impress a potential partner
Almost half (47%) of teens drop it into conversation and a quarter (24%) of teens back that up with evidence by leaving their reading material visible in their bag
A quarter (26 per cent) of adults use reading to clinch the deal with a prospective lover in the bedroom by strategically leaving evidence of reading material they’ve talked about during the date by the bed
[...]
Top ten reads to impress a man:
1. Current Affairs websites
2. Shakespeare
3. Song lyrics
4. Cookery books
5. Poetry
6. Nelson Mandela autobiography [Long Walk to Freedom]
7. Jane Austen
8. Facebook/Myspace
9. Religious texts
10. Financial Times
Top ten reads to impress a woman:
1. Nelson Mandela autobiography [Long Walk to Freedom]
2. Shakespeare
3. Cookery books
4. Poetry
5. Song lyrics
6. Current affairs websites
7. Text messages
8. Emails
9. Financial Times
10. Facebook
Top 10 reads to impress a teenage guy:
1. Facebook/Myspace
2. Text messages
3. Harry Potter
4. Song lyrics
5. Emails
6. Current affairs websites
7. Zoo/Nuts
8. Poetry
9. Metro
10. Shakespeare
Top 10 reads to impress a teenage girl:
1. Facebook/Myspace
2. Text messages
3. Song lyrics
4. Cookery books
5. Harry Potter
6. Poetry
7. Emails
8. Jane Austen
9. Shakespeare
10. Heat
• Almost one in five (19%) of teenagers have lied about what they’ve read to impress a potential partner
• Almost three quarters (74%) have lied about what they’ve read to impress friends and potential partners
Top 5 teen dating deceits:
• Films
• Reading
• Sexual conquests
• Age
• Job
• Almost a quarter (24%) of teens would like their potential partner to read Facebook/Myspace.
• Although modern technology proved popular in the romantic reading stakes, Shakespeare still made it into the top ten pulling picks for both male and female teenagers.
• When using reading to impress a potential partner, almost half of teens (47%) would drop it into conversation whilst nearly a quarter (24%) would leave it visible in their bag ...
http://www.yearofreading.org.uk/index.php?id=429