Men now value personality more, women prioritize looks, survey finds

The long-held notion that men prioritize women’s looks while women value men’s personalities may be shifting, with a recent survey showing results trending toward the opposite.

Wippy, a social discovery service, released a survey Thursday in which 1,000 young people shared their views on dating and marriage. The majority of respondents fell within the 25 to 34 age bracket. Within that range, 65.2 percent of respondents were male and 54.2 percent were female.

When asked what they value most in a potential partner, 73.1 percent of men said “personality,” while 70 percent of women said “physical attractiveness.”

The survey also showed differing attitudes toward the effort respondents put into dating.

Among men, 49 percent said they “want to date and actively make an effort (to date),” while 51.4 percent of women said they “want to date but do not actively make an effort.”

The reason for not dating also varied. For men, 63.8 percent cited a lack of opportunities to meet someone. Among women, 58.9 percent said they had not met someone they liked.

Asked why dating feels burdensome, 55 percent of men cited emotional strain, while 37.5 percent of women pointed to the hassle of the early stages of dating.

The survey also touched on dating app usage. Some 21.6 percent of men and 18.1 percent of women said they use dating apps to find partners. When asked whether a serious relationship is possible through such platforms, 38.4 percent of men said yes, compared to 23.2 percent of women.