Men like ambitious, creative women while women like well-travelled, informed blokes, a study conducted by eHarmony has found.
The study, which analysed the communication requests between the online dating site's 142,000 members, found that, while women tend to list more interests than men, men who include interests in their profile receive 125 per cent more communication requests than those who don't.
Women who list interests in their profile increase their chances of receiving a message by 25 per cent.
So, which interests should you list? Here are the top five traits found in heterosexual online dating matches.
The most attractive traits in men:
5. Theatre
Perhaps swayed by the prospect of romantic dates in the dress circle, women showed a strong interest in men who said they liked going to see a show.
4. Food
Blokes, your mum was right: Girls like a boy who can cook. And with male celebrity chefs popping up on every station at this time of year, you have a lot of competition.
3. Health and exercise
"Health and exercise"; it's sort of like the politically correct way to say "hot", isn't it? Regardless, women looking for love online find it attractive.
2. Travel
Interestingly, travel didn't rate a mention on the list of traits men found attractive in women. But, it seems that women like their blokes to have seen the world before they settle down into a partnership.
1. Politics
#Auspol nerds rejoice: Women like men who are into question time and caucus. With the NSW state election coming up, maybe it's worth single Sydney men listing their electorate in their bio for a cheeky polling booth date? Although an interest in politics was rated as the most attractive thing a man can possess, bizarrely, the same interest made men 16 per cent less likely to send a woman a message.
The most attractive traits in women
5. Dancing
Remember those ballet classes you gave up aged 10? It's time to return to the barre.
4. Family
While having an interest in family was only the 10th most attractive trait in the eyes of women reading men's profiles, it turns out that men care a bit more about their potential partner's views on the family unit.
3. Food
Like women, men also like their partners to be able to host three-hatted date nights at home.
2. Health and exercise
Here's that euphemism for "hot" again. Men were just a little bit more likely than women to view how their partner looks after their body as an important trait.
1. Personal growth
The online dating world is often dismissed as a realm of superficial judgements, so it's nice to know that inner growth is valued. The trait was the top thing men look for in a partner online, proving that your girlfriends are right when they coo, "To love someone else, you have to love yourself."
