The Research

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First Dates

0+

Approaches

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Matches

0

Countries

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Books Read

0

Years

0+

Hours of Conversation

Eight years of data, distilled.

Distribution

Dates by Continent

Top 10 Countries

Dates by Year

Cultural Calibration Matrix

Four dimensions extracted from 1,500+ dates. Select up to four countries to compare their cultural dating geometry.

🇧🇷Brazil🇨🇴Colombia🇯🇵Japan🇩🇪Germany

Select up to 4 countries. Click to toggle.

Score Explorer

Plot any two dimensions against each other. Each dot is a country, sized by receptivity and colored by region.

AfricaLATAMAsiaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeSouth AsiaMENAOceania

Country Comparator

Select two countries. See every dimension side by side.

🇧🇷

Brazil

LATAM

Japan

Asia

🇯🇵
9
Receptivity
6
7
Foreigner Adv.
7
8
Escalation
3
7
Flakiness
6
7
Man Pays
6
7
Jealousy
4
6
Family
5
9
PDA
2
4
Safety
10
6
Affordability
5
10
Nightlife
7
8
Hookup Culture
4
7
Daygame
6
A leads by 3+
B leads by 3+
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇯🇵 Japan

Rankings

1🇧🇷Brazil
9
2🇨🇴Colombia
9
3🇩🇴Dominican Republic
9
4🇵🇭Philippines
9
5🇦🇷Argentina
8
6🇨🇺Cuba
8
7🇲🇽Mexico
8
8🇹🇼Taiwan
8
9🇹🇭Thailand
8
10🇰🇪Kenya
7

Correlations

How the 13 dimensions relate to each other across 49 countries. Red means they move together. Blue means they oppose.

Receptivity
Foreigner Adv.
Escalation
Flakiness
Man Pays
Jealousy
Family
PDA
Safety
Affordability
Nightlife
Hookup Culture
Daygame
Receptivity
1.0
0.7
0.7
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.0
0.6
-0.3
0.3
0.6
0.6
0.9
Foreigner Adv.
0.7
1.0
0.2
0.4
0.5
0.4
0.5
0.0
-0.4
0.7
0.1
0.0
0.6
Escalation
0.7
0.2
1.0
0.2
-0.1
-0.1
-0.4
0.9
-0.3
-0.1
0.7
0.9
0.8
Flakiness
0.3
0.4
0.2
1.0
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.1
-0.4
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.3
Man Pays
0.2
0.5
-0.1
0.4
1.0
0.8
0.8
-0.3
-0.6
0.6
-0.2
-0.5
0.2
Jealousy
0.2
0.4
-0.1
0.4
0.8
1.0
0.7
-0.1
-0.6
0.5
-0.0
-0.4
0.2
Family
0.0
0.5
-0.4
0.3
0.8
0.7
1.0
-0.4
-0.4
0.7
-0.4
-0.6
-0.1
PDA
0.6
0.0
0.9
0.1
-0.3
-0.1
-0.4
1.0
-0.2
-0.2
0.8
0.9
0.6
Safety
-0.3
-0.4
-0.3
-0.4
-0.6
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
1.0
-0.4
-0.1
0.0
-0.3
Affordability
0.3
0.7
-0.1
0.1
0.6
0.5
0.7
-0.2
-0.4
1.0
-0.1
-0.3
0.3
Nightlife
0.6
0.1
0.7
0.2
-0.2
-0.0
-0.4
0.8
-0.1
-0.1
1.0
0.8
0.7
Hookup Culture
0.6
0.0
0.9
0.1
-0.5
-0.4
-0.6
0.9
0.0
-0.3
0.8
1.0
0.6
Daygame
0.9
0.6
0.8
0.3
0.2
0.2
-0.1
0.6
-0.3
0.3
0.7
0.6
1.0
-1
+1

Methodology

1.Approach

Structured cold approach in daylight, nightlife, or dating app.

2.Conversation

30-120 minute date with semi-structured observation protocol.

3.Observation

Post-date scoring on 13 behavioral and cultural dimensions.

4.Score

Aggregate country-level scores, cross-reference with literature.

Confidence Levels

●●●

High

N>100 + academic literature confirms

●●○

Moderate

N>30 or literature supports

●○○

Exploratory

Observation-based hypothesis

“These findings are drawn from structured field observation, not controlled experiments. Sample sizes are noted. Where academic literature supports or contradicts my observations, I cite it. Where it doesn’t exist, I say so.”

49 countries · 8 years · 266 academic papers cross-referenced

Observations

“Latin America accounts for 28% of all dates — and 60% of all canceled plans.”
“COVID killed 2020, but 2022–2024 produced more data than the first four years combined.”
“The safest countries to date in are the hardest to get a date in.”
“Nightlife quality and hookup culture correlate at 0.7. Except in Japan, where they anti-correlate.”
“Family involvement is the strongest predictor of escalation speed — stronger than religion, wealth, or latitude.”

Research Library

266 verified academic papers cross-referenced with field observations.

Research Library

266 verified academic papers

Showing 12 of 266 papers

Buss, D.M.(1989)

Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1)

Universal sex differences in mate preferences across 37 cultures (N=10,047): women value resources and ambition; men value youth and physical attractiveness.

DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X00023992
Buss, D.M. & Schmitt, D.P.(1993)

Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating

Psychological Review, 100(2)

Both men and women evolved distinct psychological mechanisms underlying short-term and long-term mating strategies, with 9 hypotheses and 22 predictions tested empirically.

DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.100.2.204
Schmitt, D.P.(2005)

Sociosexuality from Argentina to Zimbabwe: A 48-nation study of sex, culture, and strategies of human mating

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28(2)

Sex differences in sociosexuality are culturally universal across 48 nations (N=14,059), but magnitude varies with gender equality and environmental harshness.

DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X05000051
Schmitt, D.P. et al.(2003)

Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: Tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(1)

Sex differences in desire for sexual variety are culturally universal across 52 nations (N=16,288), regardless of measurement index used.

DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.1.85
Schmitt, D.P. et al.(2004)

Patterns and universals of adult romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions: Are models of self and of other pancultural constructs?

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(4)

Secure attachment normative in 79% of cultures (N=17,804). Men report higher dismissing attachment cross-culturally. Preoccupied attachment more prevalent in East Asia.

DOI: 10.1177/0022022104266105
Fisher, H.E., Aron, A. & Brown, L.L.(2005)

Romantic love: An fMRI study of a neural mechanism for mate choice

Journal of Comparative Neurology, 493(1)

fMRI of 17 people intensely in love showed activation of dopamine-rich reward areas (VTA, caudate nucleus), suggesting romantic love uses reward systems for mate choice.

DOI: 10.1002/cne.20772
Aron, A., Fisher, H., Mashek, D.J., Strong, G., Li, H. & Brown, L.L.(2005)

Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love

Journal of Neurophysiology, 94(1)

Early-stage romantic love activates subcortical dopaminergic reward and motivation systems (VTA, caudate nucleus), not primarily cortical emotion areas.

DOI: 10.1152/jn.00838.2004
Acevedo, B.P., Aron, A., Fisher, H.E. & Brown, L.L.(2012)

Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(2)

Long-term couples (avg 21.4 years married) show VTA and dopamine-rich reward activation similar to early-stage love, plus maternal attachment regions. Romantic love can endure.

DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsq092
Trivers, R.L.(1972)

Parental investment and sexual selection

In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man 1871-1971

The sex investing more in offspring is choosier about mates; the sex investing less competes more for access. Foundation of modern mate choice theory.

Singh, D.(1993)

Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: Role of waist-to-hip ratio

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2)

Men across age groups (25-85) judge women with low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR ~0.7) as more attractive, healthy, and of greater reproductive value.

DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.293
Singh, D. & Dixson, B.J.(2010)

Cross-cultural consensus for waist-hip ratio and women's attractiveness

Evolution and Human Behavior, 31(3)

Cross-cultural study in Cameroon, Indonesia, Samoa, and New Zealand confirms universal preference for low WHR regardless of BMI variation.

DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.09.001
Gangestad, S.W. & Simpson, J.A.(2000)

The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23(4)

Humans evolved conditional mating strategies with trade-offs between genetic fitness cues and willingness to invest in offspring, modulated by environmental cues.

DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X0000337X