You Should Definitely Drink On Your First Date, According to Leading Biological Anthropoligist

Recently, we filled you in on a study that did away with any pressure you may have had about designing a creative and unique first date—either for yourself, or for the subjects of your latest match-making project. It said that really, straightforward, simple first dates—cocktails, coffee or dinner, say—were best for getting started out on the right, solid foot, and furthermore, that these were the types of first dates that most often lead to marriage.

Well, our latest insight into the world of first dates not only confirms the above, it takes it a step further: Your first date should definitely include a drink or two.

The advice to comes to us by way of leading biological anthropologist Helen Fisher’s interview with the Washington Post concerning the makeup of a first date (in an article that addresses rather hilariously how annoying many restaurants find first-daters to be):

“By having a mixed drink, you’re going to end up being more social, more talkative, and showing more of who you are,” says Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist who advises Match.

But at the same time, the unspoken rules of dating say don’t drink too much, don’t order big dinners, and talk. A lot. “The first date really should be just for cocktails, because you really shouldn’t invest a lot of money or time. It’s a look-see,” Fisher says. And the time between hour one and hour two — just as your bartender is getting itchy for you to order another round or move along — is when you really get to know each other. Was she kind to the server? Did he have good taste in wine? A just-drinks date, says Fisher, “is extremely well built to assemble data about a potential partner.”

So now, you’ve got some balancing to do: Imbibe just enough that your walls come down a little—but not so much that they crumble.

{h/t: New York mag/The Science of Us}

RELATED: Study: These First Dates Are Most Likely to Lead to Marriage 

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