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Match Affinity Review

The new site from the people behind Match.com puts personality testing at it's centre and compatibility matching to the test.

Do you believe in soulmates? Do you think that you would be happier in a relationship if – in addition to physical attraction and chemistry – you could also form a mental understanding with your match that can only be achieved when two people share the same values, personality traits and outlooks to life? If so, then the MatchAffinity dating site could well be the ideal place for you to find that special someone.

The Match Affinity test

The first thing you will do when you sign up to MatchAffinity is take a comprehensive personality test. It is advertised as a unique psychometric test and basically means you'll answer all kinds of questions, ranging from those ones bringing out your character traits to the more obscure where you choose between different pictures or images that might show what your thoughts and feelings are on a more subconscious level. The test is fun to take – so you don’t have to worry about picking your brain too much. That said, it isn’t just a bunch of random questions that someone came up with during their lunch hour – according to MatchAffinity, the test has been put together by an expert group of psychologists specialised in psychometrics and dynamics of human relationships.

There are around one hundred questions covering 71 different psychological criteria from fundamental values to views on family life. As an added bonus, all members also get a comprehensive personality report. All reports are stored within the MatchAffinity databases and compared against each other, so that your values, your outlook on life and unique personality traits get to be weighed up against those of a possible partner. In practical terms this means that the system gives you a similarity percentage between you and every other member in the MatchAffinity community.

This helps you pre-screen those members that might be more similar to you in their way of thinking before you have any contact with them. So – no more unpleasant surprises when that cute guy or sexy girl turns out to be just another pretty face with no brains to match yours. Looks are important, sure – but no lasting relationship can be based on them alone. You don’t want to waste any more time on people who have nothing to offer or add to your life.

MatchAffinity Profiles & Search

Taking the compatibility test makes profile creating that much easier – some of the characteristics appearing in your profile appear as test questions so you've already done half the work. Also, the fact that it gives users the opportunity to compare profiles makes it less important to come up with witty intros to your profile. The option is still there should you be a real wordsmith, but in case you’re one of those people who struggles with the seemingly impossible task to come up with an introduction which is original, informative, cool and funny – then this really helps you out.

One important thing you should know is the fact that even if you upload your photo, it doesn’t have to be visible to everyone. You can choose yourself whether you want to show just a blurry image of it and release it to only those who really seem interesting to you. However, this works both ways: you might not be able to see other users’ photos either unless they choose to show you.

Searching for a partner is relatively easy with all the usual characteristics of a proper search – there is both a quick and advanced search, which gives you the opportunity to look for that special someone in really specific terms. However, one downside to search is that all the results are just given in a simple list – without thumbnail photos to their name. And while they all display a clear compatibility score, you can’t sort them by that, which would be a feaure we'd like to see added in the future.

The system will, however, try and pick out some of best matches for you and point them out, but as it also comes as just a long list of names with just ages and occupations attached, it’s a little bit hard for someone to stand out and catch your eye. You do have to do at least some of the work yourself in finding the right person for you, can’t just rely on the system alone.

No wink zone

When contacting someone, there’s no 'poking' or 'winking' in MatchAffinity. You can 'like' or 'unlike' someone’s profile, which means they will either appear in your favourite’s list (and will also be notified that you’ve added them to your favourite’s list) or will stop appearing in the lists of possible partners suggested to you

However, should you feel interested in someone, you do actually have to do the hard work yourself and send them an email. Or just keep your fingers crossed that they pick out your profile from those that have visited their site and actually take the first step themselves (the site shows you which members have visited your profile).

When it comes to extras then there’s not a whole lot of options here – there’s no chat or video messaging. The compatibility test is pretty much what the whole site is built around, although there is an option to get personal telephone-coaching with advice on profile creating and other types of guidance and discussions. It does cost a small fee though, and can only be used by paid members. The video coaching is free for all members, but not as personal and gives some pretty general advice about creating a profile and online datings dos and don'ts.

Free vs Paid site

All users – paid and free alike – can take the affinity test and view their personality reports. Everyone also gets a list of suggested matches with compatibility scores and reports. A nice little extra for unpaid members is a chance to send a first message to each member on the site – but to properly read and write messages to other members, you do have to subscribe. What makes subscription really necessary though is the fact that you don’t ever get to see a single photo of anyone – even if they have made their photo public – unless you’re a paid member. Which means you don’t really get to see what’s on offer or who you would be missing!

Pros and Cons

The comprehensive affinity test which is not only fun to take but also helps you to complete your profile.
The policy with photos – you can’t see them when you’re not paying and even then you might not see more than a blurry image unless the member decides to show you.