Why we try to date people who are 25 per cent hotter than us

Most online daters are seeking a partner who is more attractive than themselves. Photo / Getty Images

If you're struggling to find matches on dating apps, it may be because you're setting your sights too high.

A study found the majority of online daters are seeking potential dates who are at least 25 per cent more attractive than themselves, reports the Daily Mail.

Daters focussing on people "out of their league" may explain why a lot of messages on apps go unanswered, scientists said.

The tactic might not get you as many dates as those with realistic expectations - but the study did show one in five people who use it manage to get at least one reply.

Study co-author Professor Elizabeth Bruch, a sociologist at the University of Michigan, said: "I think a common complaint when people use online dating websites is they feel like they never get any replies.

"This can be dispiriting.

"But even though the response rate is low our analysis shows 21 per cent of people who engage in this aspirational behaviour do get replies from a mate who is 'out of their league' - so perseverance pays off."

The dating app industry has gone through the roof with a global 26 million daily match-ups on Tinder alone.

Plenty of Fish has 90 million people on their register.

Now Professor Bruch and colleagues have developed a formula that shows the idea someone is "out of your league" doesn't put off online daters.

In the first study of its kind hierarchies of desirability - or "leagues" - were identified in in online dating networks in four major US cities.

To rate users' attractiveness, the researchers devised a ranking algorithm based on the number of messages a person receives and the desirability of the senders.

Co-author Professor Mark Newman said: "Rather than relying on guesses about what people find attractive, this approach allows us to define desirability in terms of who is receiving the most attention and from whom."

The researchers applied the algorithm to users of a dating website based in New York, Boston, Chicago and Seattle.

Research showed that 21 per cent of people gunning to punch above their weight successfully got at least one reply from someone more attractive than themselves.

It revealed people behave strategically by altering the length and number of messages they send to people depending on how attractive they are - with longer messages saved for top matches.

The study also found sending longer messages to more desirable prospects may not be particularly helpful in online courtship.

In three of the cities longer messages did not appear to increase a person's chances of receiving a reply.

The one exception was Seattle - where it did work.

Up to the age of 50, older men tended to have higher desirability scores than younger counterparts.

Women's tended to decline the older they got - from 18 to 60.

But Professor Bruch said: "There can be a lot of difference in terms of who is desirable to whom.

"Our scores reflect the overall desirability rankings given online dating site users' diverse preferences.

"There may be sub-markets in which people who would not necessarily score as high by our measures could still have an awesome and fulfilling dating life."

This is also just the first - and perhaps shallowest - phase of courtship, she said.

Previous dating research has shown as people spend time together, their unique character traits become more important relative to other attributes.