The social psychologist Eli Finkel, the director of the Relationships and Motivation Lab at Northwestern University, believes the future lies in using dyadic data, observing rather than predicting compatibility from an initial interaction. Non-conscious synchrony emerges when two people are interested in one another: within minutes, pupil dilation,

One study showed 44 per cent of millennials were on Tinder for ego-boosting procrastination – more than were looking for either hook-ups or relationships.

The matching potential of the genome is not entirely without merit: kissing is hypothesised to be subconsciously used by women to gauge the health and genetic make-up of a potential mate through saliva, as well as for eliciting arousal through the exchange of hormones.

In The Paradox of Choice, the psychologist Barry Schwartz argues that infinite choice – whether of mutual funds, breakfast cereals or lovers – is exhausting to the human psyche and leads to greater dissatisfaction. When presented with too many choices, we are not only stunned, like a kid in the proverbial candy shop, but also less satisfied with

A study out of Stanford showed that a staggering 80 per cent of single straight adults had not gone on a single date or hooked up in the previous year, leading the researcher to conclude that the main utility of the apps for heterosexuals might be ‘for flirting or for browsing’.

The average person in medieval times is thought to have laid eyes on fewer than 100 people in the course of a lifetime. An attractive young woman can rack up that many matches in minutes.

Trading in insecurities, dating is one of few services in which dissatisfaction leads users to question themselves instead of the product, and even increase spending to up the odds of success.

One study showed that half of Tinder users had not gone on a single date with a match made on the app.

In a study of the most successful words for men to put on an online profile, ‘physically fit’ upped response rate by a whopping 96 per cent;10 in another, the number-one word for men to use on a profile was – wait for it – ‘6ft’.