Study Finds Women Find Better Matches With Fewer Dating Options

What if the secret to improving online matchmaking and decreasing dating fatigue isn’t expanding users’ dating pools, but shrinking them? That’s the conclusion of a new study to be published in Information Systems Research. According to the study, a great way to create loyal users is to give them fewer options. 

I know, I know — this sounds downright backwards. Modern daters seem to want more choices, not fewer choices. The last thing they’d want is some company telling them who they can and cannot meet, right?

Not exactly. This study supports what users have been telling us for years: Decision fatigue, especially for women, is a major reason why people are leaving dating apps behind. Reducing this fatigue could mean retaining users.

The study’s authors — Professors Sabari Rajan Karmegam, Jui Ramaprasad, and Anand Gopal — put this theory to the test on one of India’s largest matrimony platforms. They made sure that women only saw the profiles of men who met certain educational, financial, and age requirements, a process called “gender gating.” 

“Gender gating,” the study explained, makes it possible for women to interact solely with the most high-quality suitors, according to their own definition of “high quality.” Ideally, this makes what has long been an occasionally meandering process more efficient, more emotionally satisfying, and more accurate. 

And when directed at the right group of people at the right time, this aggressive approach could be the difference between lost users and loyal users. Or better yet: a loyal user turned married supporter. 

Are There Too Many Men on Dating Apps? 

It’s a problem most women have encountered on dating apps at one point or another: There are too many men, and they all want your attention. In fact, Karmegam found that women receive approximately 40x as many expressions of interest on dating apps as men.

For women, this means sorting through an overwhelming number of profiles. For men, this means a lot of empty inboxes. Both scenarios are far from ideal, and can make both people feel thoroughly unsupported by the app.  

This problem is not inherent to Indian or matrimony apps, but to dating apps in general, regardless of whether they’re for long or short term relationships. In 2023, more than half (54%) of surveyed women told Pew Research that they’ve felt overwhelmed by the number of messages they’ve received on a dating platform, compared to just 25% of men. 

This problem was at the top of the researchers’ minds. “Once [women] were flooded with all these requests, it was hard for them to figure out what the problem was all about,” Karmegam told George Mason University. “Congestion led to reduced engagement by women and potential exit from the platform.”

The researchers knew what they had to do. Addressing this congestion problem, which is usually brought on by an industry-wide gender imbalance, could be the key to keeping people on the apps. That’s where gender gating comes into play. 

Does ‘Gender Gating’ Lead To More Accurate Matches? 

Fewer matches on a dating app may sound like a bad thing, but Karmegam and his colleagues posit that it actually leads to fewer overwhelmed women. And when fewer matches are the result of gender gating, it means that matches are potentially more aligned, allowing for more satisfied female and male users. 

In this study, gender gating resulted in female users receiving 6% fewer expressions of interest from men — a seemingly small percentage that actually has a major impact on user engagement, the researchers found. 

Case in point: women over 25 years old on this particular Indian matrimony platform sent 113% more expressions of interest in return. 

Reducing the number of matches via gender gating also seemed to improve the quality of matches. According to the researchers, match efficacy improved by a whopping 72%. And those women over 25 years of age? They reported a 103% improvement in matching efficacy. 

How Exactly Does Gender Gating Work?

Apps often take their own unique approaches to gender gating, but they all play on the same underlying concept: that allowing women to determine the criteria by which they receive matches leads to more accurate and compatible pairings. 

Yes, this tends to give men less control over the profiles they see. And, yes, this tends to lessen the number of profiles or matches each person has access to. This strategy takes “quality over quantity” to another level, ideally making for a more meaningful experience for both users, regardless of gender. 

If you think gender gating sounds like an aggressive way to basically “filter” profiles, you’re not wrong. But the difference between this approach and regular filters, however, is that the user must choose to search with filters; gender gating automatically hides profiles that don’t meet the user’s individual qualifications. 

This strategy takes “quality over quantity” to another level, ideally making for a more meaningful experience for both users, regardless of gender. 

This study put gender gating to the test on an Indian matrimony app — a particularly interesting setting, considering many Indian daters adhere to a more traditional, family-centered matchmaking process. 

The fact that users reported such improved match effectiveness is a strong sign that gender gating could secretly be the key to alleviating the dating fatigue sweeping through the dating industry — or, perhaps, reversing it altogether. 

Of course, the engagement potential of “gender gating” isn’t really a secret. Just ask Whitney Wolf Herd. 

Some Western Apps Are Already Gender Gating 

“If you change the rules of the road, people behave differently,” Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd said in 2019. She would know this better than anyone. Bumble did, after all, revolutionize the idea that giving women more agency on dating apps can lead to more aligned matches and improved user engagement. 

Historically, Bumble’s version of “gender gating” meant having women make the first move. The women-centered app may be struggling to regain dominance in 2026, but it still resonates with female users who crave having more control over their matches. 

Western apps aren’t usually so specific; this is what made Bumble so groundbreaking to begin with. They usually take a “you never know who you’ll vibe with” approach.

I have to admit, it’s a romantic notion. But there are daters for whom the whole “let’s see where this goes” thing is not only old news, but a waste of time — and a good reason to avoid using a certain app altogether. 

What this study actually highlights is the importance of intention, something Western apps like Bumble have been focusing on for years, but not as aggressively as in the same.

These daters don’t want to play games. They want to find their happily ever after as quickly and efficiently as possible, and they don’t want to take a chance on just anybody. Chances are, this sounds like someone you know — which is why Karmegam and co.’s findings are so interesting. 

What this study actually highlights is the importance of intention, something Western apps like Bumble have been focusing on for years. It’s not alone: Hinge’s “Best” Recommendations match users with profiles that best align to their qualifications. 

Many other Western apps have filters that help both male and female users narrow their choices. What makes this study truly notable is how it blocks what it deems to be inaccurate matches from the user’s view. It doesn’t only give you the option of seeing more personalized profiles — it takes the choice away from you completely. 

This may sound like a step too far, but for many overwhelmed online daters, this could actually be the strong move they’ve been waiting for. In the process, the study reveals just how effective this approach can be for a certain kind of dating app: the kind that promises uber-accurate matches in hopes of creating long-term relationships.