Out of your league? Majority of online daters seek out partners who are more desirable than themselves, according to a study.
The research, published in the journal Science Advances, suggests the notion that an attractive person is "out of your league" does not often dissuade dating hopefuls - at least online.
The analysis shows that hierarchies of desirability - or "leagues" - emerge in anonymised data from online dating networks in four major US cities.
The majority of people in these dating networks contact prospects who are 25 per cent more desirable than themselves.
They also tend to tailor their messaging strategies, sending relatively longer messages to contacts who are further up the hierarchy.
"We have so many folk theories about how dating works that have not been scientifically tested," said Elizabeth Bruch, a sociologist at