We all have heard it: watch for the red flags . Chemistry is everything. Vibes matter. From love gurus to seasoned individuals, most of us have received infinite advice on how to navigate the dating world.

It’s a tough game, and most think they need all the arsenal at their disposal even to drift through. But guess what? Cracking the dating formula is not as complicated as decoding your ex. In fact, experts confirm that there is . A recent study by McGill researchers, published in
Personal Relationships, found that knowing one thing before stepping into the dating game can make all the difference. What is that No. 1 thing? Let’s take a look.



No. 1 thing you should know before dating

According to the researchers, to succeed in the dating world, one should know what they want. That’s the most important thing. They found that single people who date without a clear understanding of what they are looking for in a relationship experience more loneliness and decreased life satisfaction.

They conducted two complementary studies, each involving over 180 single young adults who were actively dating. These studies looked at the link between ‘ relationship clarity ’, loneliness, and life satisfaction.



What is relationship clarity?

In dating, clarity means having a clear understanding of what one is looking for in a relationship, according to Dita Kubin, a co-author of the paper and a recent McGill PhD graduate in psychology.



Lack of clarity and incompatible partners

The researchers found that lack of clarity is a major obstacle to forming meaningful relationships. “The repeated measures of our second study gave us more confidence that a lack of relationship clarity leads to loneliness, rather than loneliness creating a lack of relationship clarity,” Katya Kredl, a PhD student in psychology and lead author of the paper, said.

“People low in relationship clarity may be less selective in dating contexts, which could lead to unfulfilling dating experiences with incompatible partners. Lacking relationship clarity may also lead people to interpret ambiguous cues as negative during their dates. When people feel uncertain about a social situation, they are more likely to interpret neutral cues as rejection, which then heightens feelings of loneliness,” Kredl said.



Loneliness as a global concern

About 50 per cent of Canadians and Americans reported feeling lonely in recent years, according to government data from both countries. This loneliness has been linked to a variety of mental and physical issues.

“Because romantic relationships can serve as a form of primary social support, previous research has shown that single individuals who report higher loneliness and lower perceived social support also tend to report lower life satisfaction and well-being,” the researchers said.

“Moving forward, we are interested in developing an intervention to help people make their relationship goals clearer,” Kredl added.