When it comes to finding love, having a lucky charm on your side can make all the difference, according to the world's biggest dating site.

 

Match.com decided² to test the theory by handing half the attendees at a singles event a rose quartz³ stone or bracelet⁴ on their way in, a crystal believed to radiate a powerful energy that resonates with the heart chakra.

 

Those who had been given a charm were 67 per cent more likely to describe their night as successful than those who had not. Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of the charm carriers said they were more successful in meeting a prospective⁵ partner than at similar events in the past, compared to just 40 per cent of those who were charm-less.

 

The guests themselves, however, were less convinced. Just 30 per cent of the total attendees said they believed in the power of lucky charms, while 80 per cent of the rose quartz carriers said they felt lucky during the course of the evening, compared with just half (52 per cent) of those who hadn't.

 

Professor Richard Wiseman believes the experiment attests⁶ that lucky talismans, from crystals and lucky pants to rabbit's feet and four leaf clovers, can help to put singletons in the right frame of mind to find love.

 

"The aim of this study was to find out how daters can increase their chances of success by making tiny changes to their behaviour," he said. "What we've discovered is that even something as small and inconsequential as a quartz stone can have a huge effect on people's behaviour by putting them in a more positive or 'lucky' frame of mind. Singles are more likely to mingle⁷ if they feel lucky – in short, when it comes to the dating game, you really do make your own luck!"

 

Professor Wiseman added that studies have consistently shown that lucky charms do work in a number of different areas of life, and that dating is clearly no different. "It may sound strange, but if you have a lucky charm then you really are more likely to make your own luck," he said.

 

Researchers at the University of Cologne claimed to have proven that belief in good luck enhanced a golfer's performance in 2010.

 

However, believing in their own good fortune only helps people in situations where they have a control over their own performance, and not in situations of pure chance such as playing the lottery⁸ or betting on horses.

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