Your market value in love: self-deception and realism
Why the dating market analogy explains romantic failure: inflated self-esteem, realism and data from dating apps.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Your market value in love: self-deception and realism
The economic analogy applied to romantic relationships has gained traction in recent years. The concept is as simple as it is uncomfortable: every person has a market value that determines their ability to attract a partner. Factors such as age, physical attractiveness, income and social status act as supply and demand variables.
Those who fail to find a partner tend to overestimate their position in the ranking. A 40-year-old woman with sedentary habits will hardly compete with a 25-year-old in the same segment; a man with a precarious job and modest housing faces a low ceiling in the dating market. It's not sens or classism: it's a statistical correlation confirmed by dating app data.
The problem arises when self-image clashes with reality. Economic theory would say that the equilibrium price is the one that clears the market; the romantic equivalent is adjusting your expectations to your own profile. Ignoring this leads to perpetual frustration.
The discussion, however, leaves out less quantifiable variables: chemistry, idiosyncratic tastes, luck. Reducing love to an auction can be useful as an exercise in realism, but dangerous as dogma.
The economic analogy applied to romantic relationships has gained traction in recent years. The concept is as simple as it is uncomfortable: every person has a market value that determines their ability to attract a partner. Factors such as age, physical attractiveness, income and social status act as supply and demand variables.
Those who fail to find a partner tend to overestimate their position in the ranking. A 40-year-old woman with sedentary habits will hardly compete with a 25-year-old in the same segment; a man with a precarious job and modest housing faces a low ceiling in the dating market. It's not sens or classism: it's a statistical correlation confirmed by dating app data.
The problem arises when self-image clashes with reality. Economic theory would say that the equilibrium price is the one that clears the market; the romantic equivalent is adjusting your expectations to your own profile. Ignoring this leads to perpetual frustration.
The discussion, however, leaves out less quantifiable variables: chemistry, idiosyncratic tastes, luck. Reducing love to an auction can be useful as an exercise in realism, but dangerous as dogma.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (14 replies).
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