First impressions: Researchers examine what’s being evaluated during - and prior to - a first date

When it comes to romantic relationships, it's difficult to overstate the importance of first impressions. A recent study  published in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  explored how initial impressions predict relational outcomes, including how the dating market's determinations of desirability shapes those initial opinions before couples even get a chance to see if they have any chemistry one-on-one. "We found that the factors that mattered the most in predicting romantic interest were the extent to which people agreed that certain partners had desirable traits," says  Emily Impett , a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga who was a member of a team of researchers involved in a study on the topic. In other words, potential mates already had to present a good "resume" of qualities considered important by society - such as physical attractiveness - just to get to that first face-to-face meeting. This factor is known as "partner effects" or "mate value." Impett and her research partners drew data from more than 6,600 speed dates in the study. Right behind the importance of the "partner effect" was the "relationship effect," or "the extent to which people uniquely desired each other," says Impett, who earned her PhD at University of California, Los Angeles. Known more plainly as compatibility, the relationship effect is the elusive quality that turns dates into relationships.