{
  "id": 11208555,
  "title": "Excitement from a virtual reality game spills over into men’s romantic judgments, study finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/excitement-from-a-virtual-reality-game-spills-over-into-mens-romantic",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-01T14:00:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/excitement-from-a-virtual-reality-game-spills-over-into-mens-romantic-judgments-study-finds/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study has discovered a link between virtual reality-induced excitement and men's romantic judgments. Researchers from Leuphana University Lüneburg found that men who played a fast-paced virtual reality rhythm game rated online dating profiles more favorably than those who experienced a calm environment. The phenomenon, known as arousal misattribution, suggests that physical arousal from non-romantic activities can be misinterpreted as romantic attraction. Women, however, did not show this same bias when evaluating potential partners. The findings, published on SSRN and submitted to Computers in Human Behavior Reports, highlight the impact of digital environments on romantic decision-making.",
  "summary": "Can an elevated heart rate trick you into feeling attraction? New research indicates that men, but not women, tend to carry over physical excitement from a thrilling virtual reality game into their online dating decisions.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}