Researchers randomly sampled nearly 3,000 internet dating profiles to see whether people picked politics as an interest or detailed specific political views. It turns out that politics was so unpopular, it ranked at the bottom of the list with "business networking" and "book club."

Published in the Journal of Evolution and Human Behavior, the study showed that only 14 percent of online daters included "political interests" in their profile, and of those who listed politics as an interest, 57 percent reported that their politics were "middle of the road." However, a much larger percentage of people were willing to share their "stocky" or "heavy set" body types.

Other studies have shown that shared political views are considered incredibly important among successful married couples, with only religion ranking higher.

"At some point in the dating process, we somehow filter out people who do not share our political preferences," said study researcher Casey A. Klofstad of the University of Miami. "Our best guess is that in the short run, most people want to cast as wide a net as possible when dating. However, in the long run, shared political preferences become a critical foundation of lasting relationships, despite the fact that many Americans are not even interested in politics."

Source: Live Science, Photo: joatklipa

Tags: internet dating profiles, politics in online dating, political preferences, political interests, online dating study
Categories: Internet dating