Confused? Well, the evidence the study produced is less than confusing:
184 heterosexual students, half of whom were single, participated in a study on sexual attraction and told the volunteers that a computer program would match them with an ideal partner. All the women in the study were shown the same photograph of a made-up „Mr. Right“ and all men were shown the same „Miss Perfect“. Now comes the interesting part – half of the men and half of the women were told that the person in the picture was single, the others heard their pictured partner was already in a relationship. That piece of information made a huge difference to the attractivity rating of the single women. Only 59 per cent were interested in the single man, but 90 per cent thought he was a catch when they heard he had a girlfriend.

Of course one would hope that most single women refrain from actually pursuing a man who is already taken, but the fact that „another woman’s man“ would be so attractive speaks volumes about how we decide on the dateability of eligible males. If they have a girlfriend, they’re alright, but if not there must be something wrong with them. Needless to say, all single women would – without exception – balk at the thought of being labelled „undateable“ because they’re single, so maybe they should rethink their attitude towards „all the best men“ – maybe some of them aren’t taken…

1. Some questions are pretty sensible – even if you don’t answer “Yes” to all of them, it’s probably a good idea to think about some issues like finances and commitment, before you take a vow that will change your life.
2. Some of the other questions aren’t exactly bad, but today you should probably answer them the exact other way around if you’re ready for marriage!
3. Some questions feel like they came straight from the dark ages and make the questionnaire feel more like an employment form for housekeepers.

Whatever you answer – some questions will give you pause for thought, some will make you laugh out loud and in the end it’s still up to you to decide whether you’re ready for marriage! After the jump is the scanned quiz.

A friend sent me the link to this video saying: “it will touch you – sooo beautiful!” To her, it was heartwarmingly romantic.

My first thought wasn’t of passion, but rather of madness. A woman who keeps secretly taking pictures of a guy on a train? Even when he’s asleep? Creepy! A guy who goes through her personal photos? Stalking! (And why does she keep taking pictures of herself? How vain!)

See how fine the line between passion and madness can be? And it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

The course costs almost 3.000 Dollars (this article was published in the midst of the financial crisis as Manhattan bankers were losing their jobs left, right and centre – how many unemployed financial experts will still be willing to pay such a high price for successful flirting in the midst of a recession?).

But successful flirting obviously sells – the book The Game was a US-bestseller and the reality series The Pickup Artist was a success stateside. Now you can learn from the real „Pick Up Artists“ in Bootcamps that teach men how to pick up beautiful women. There’s even two Bootcamps scheduled for London this week. There’s nothing basically wrong with men getting a bit of help with successful flirting and building self-esteem, but some aspects of the „Pick Up Artists’“ strategies sound a little fishy…

After 10 hours of theory, teaching men tricks and successful flirting strategies, they put their knowledge to the test by trying to pick up beautiful women in bars. A lot of the „Pick Up Artist“ strategies are little more than pick up lines with good delivery and a clever follow-up that leads into genuine conversation. Obviously, a lot of otherwise great men get rejected for corny pick up lines, so what’s the harm in these men memorising a few phrases if those openers give them the chance to let their true selves shine?

Other strategies to pick up beautiful women, however, sound nothing short of manipulative. “Trust” has nothing whatsoever to do with trust, but with manipulating a woman to do anything men want. This involves men lying and acting as the situation demands. Do men really want women who go to bed with them based solely on psycho-manipulation? We probably don’t want to know the answer….

If you don’t want to pay for the pickup bootcamp in London, you can find a woman at be2 for free.

Due to the reach of Oprah’s empire, that advice encompasses diet, fashion, design, literature and film tips, as well as relationship advice and wellness-psychobabble. Imagine someone who knows the right diet, the inspiring novel, the perfect outfit and the correct relationship advice for every situation and serves it all up (with a generous helping of inspirational platitudes) on her website, her TV show, her radio show and in her magazine.

The blogger reads the Oprah Magazine and website and watches the Oprah Show. Whenever Oprah says “do this”, “buy that” or “read that”, she does. Her experiences are detailed at Living Oprah.

It becomes clear that Oprah gives some good advice, but also lots of unnecessary tips and even more that are unrealistic or even contradictory. Oprah preaches „love your self the way you are“, while constantly advocating unattainable perfectionism and doling out diet tips. Oprah is torn between pure materialism and esoteric spirituality (”de-clutter your life!” vs. “buy new clothes, furniture, books, DVDs, keyrings with an Oprah-Logo!”). A lot of advice is time-consuming and expensive to follow. Hence, the cost of Living Oprah is also documented.

As clicheed and trite as Oprah’s advice may often be, the Living Oprah project puts it to the test, questions it, thus giving it meaning. The blog doesn’t just shine a critical light on Oprah’s advice for a happy life, but manages to question the claim that women’s magazines, self help books and lifestyle gurus can help you live a happy life simply by following their advice.

The Living Oprah project was planned as a one-year challenge and the year is coming to an end. We’re looking forward to the conclusions drawn. Will the Living Oprah blogger decide that she’s living a happy life thanks to Oprah? Somehow, we get the feeling she’s already looking forward to living by her own rules again.

Young women are more likely than young men to be happy, because they are more likely to reach their goals at a young age. Young men, whose goals are linked to financial achievements, can’t achieve what they long for until later in life. Old men, however, become more content once they get that car, that house and whatever else is on their wishlist.

there is one thing that men and women both want: a happy relationship. Young women are, again, at an advantage, because they actually enjoy being in a relationship, while young men feel the pressure of constantly having to prove themselves. Presumably, this changes again for older men, who gain confidence, while older women live in fear of losing their husbands to a younger woman.

One factor, however, is often overlooked. “I love you” means different things to different people. To some it comes easy, especially if they grew up in families where “I love you” is said a lot. Like: “Have a nice day – I love you!”, “Good Night – I love you!” “Drive safely– I love you!” etc. If you’re used to that, it’s relatively easy to prove your love in a relationship by saying „I love you“.

Others use „I love you“ sparingly, and find it difficult to prove their love that way. This can spell trouble for a relationship where one partner feels like the other isn’t able to show their feelings. On the other hand, you could say that a rare „I love you“ is more valuable because of ist rarity.

If you think you don’t hear „I love you“ often enough in your relationship, remember you can’t prove your love in a quantifable way and there is no way of determining the correct amount of „I love you“s.

Apparently, some singles looking for a partner are so lazy (unoriginal, uninventive, insecure…?) that they can’t describe themselves the way they really are in their online-matchmaking profile. Instead, they copy other singles’ profiles, probably in the hope of improving their chances with those looking for a partner.

Of course, we are aware that sometimes singles lie in their profile and it’s impossible to rule that out. An online-matchmaker can’t ensure beyond a doubt whether singles tell a white lie about their weight or income, but the truth usually emerges sooner or later and – depending on the severity of the lie – the liar comes to regret it by the first date with a new partner. Singles that are honest have better chances of finding the perfect partner.

However, some cases reported recently have gone beyond a few white lies. According to a Wall Street Journal article, singles looking for a partner have been copying entire profiles from online-matchmaking sites. Without regard for copyright, obviously.

This absurd approach to online-matchmaking leads to embarrassing situations: like the date described in the article, where a pharmaceutical salesman had to confess that he does not, in fact, write award-winning operas, as stated in his profile. Well, I guess he didn’t get a second date!

As be2 members can only see the profile of partner recommendations, this can’t really happen here, but you do wonder: what would make a single pretend to be someone completely different when looking for a partner? Being yourself usually works just fine – you should give it a try!

It found that men valued the looks of the women they wanted to date a lot more highly than their intelligence. Women, on the other hand, were more attracted to intelligence and rated men’s looks as less important. The total turnoff for men were women who are smarter than themselves. Ambition is also a big no-no.

All in all, we are disappointed, yet not surprised. Men should love women for more than their looks. And women? Well, maybe they should just admit that they love a handsome man, even if he is little more than dumb and sexy.

Don’t try to change him, baby!

This is fundamentally a female issue. It’s usually the woman who wants to change her boyfriend, rarely the other way around. To get behind the reason for all this boyfriend-changing would require a whole post on its own, but lets just say that maybe women enjoy changing boyfriends and boyfriends quite often are in need of change.
The real question is: is it actually possible to change your boyfriend? The short answer: no. The only person who can change your boyfriend is your boyfriend – it’s as simple as that. However, it is possible to, ahem, encourage change. Depending on the scale of change a woman is aiming for, this may or may not lead to a new, improved boyfriend.

We are operating under the assumption that your relationship as such is good and that your boyfriend is a great guy. If there is more wrong than right with him or the relationship, then why even bother? It may help to make a list detailing the things that are good about your relationship and the things that you want to change. If the bad outweighs the good, you can stop right there. The relationship is obviously doomed.
If, however, the list of cons is short, then it depends on how fundamental your boyfriend-changes are. Should they require a complete personality-turnaround, brainwash, everything short of a lobotomy, then you might consider exchanging this faulty boyfriend for a new model better suited to your relationship needs.

If you want to change minor issues of appearance, manners, habits, then you’re in with a chance. The key to success with these is to refrain from open criticism. Instead, use positive reinforcement. If your boyfriend is wearing something you like, tell him how great he looks, if your boyfriend helps out around the house, thank him, if your boyfriend takes you to a concert as a favour, then go along with something he wants to do in return (remember that actions speak louder than words).
The most important thing is to let him find out for himself that these changes are positive and your boyfriend will eventually change for the better.