People 'generally truthful' online

People are generally quite truthful when talking online to those with whom they could have an adulterous affair because they expect to meet face-to-face at some point.

That is to be inferred from new research conducted by the University of Kansas and published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, which was based on a survey of 5,000 users of an unnamed online dating site.

Jeffrey Hall, assistant professor of communication studies, said that the total amount of lying going on in people's online profiles was "quite small".

He said that those who lied are most likely to be "high self-monitors", in other words people who control their behaviour to match people's social expectations.

The professor added: "Online daters shouldn't be concerned that most people are presenting a false impression of themselves. What influences face-to-face dating influences the online world, too."

Men were found by the team to be more likely to lie about how well off they are, while women were the most untruthful about their weight.

Last week, Andrew Trees, author of Decoding Love, suggested to the Independent that most attractions between men and women are based on biological, as well as social, psychological and economic, factors.

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