Month: July 2008

OPW INTERVIEW — July 26 — LifeProject Method, created by Fernando Ardenghi, is an innovative and high precision quantitative method that allows us to meet people based on similar personalities. He plans to launch his own online dating site incorporating LPM. – Mark Brooks

What’s your background, Fernando?
At 37, I’m an Argentinean electronic engineer. In 1996, I started my doctoral thesis but didn’t complete it. Since 1997, I’ve been working in different Argentinean factories (including a Nuclear Power Plant). I’ve also been studying entrepreneurship since 2001.

What got you interested in the Internet dating business?
In 1997, I took the normative 16PF personality test when applying for a job. Could the knowledge I’d acquired from my failed doctoral thesis be useful for a business opportunity? Out of curiosity, I investigated methodologies and tests recruiters use to evaluate job candidates. The result of the normative 16PF personality test (expressed as a quantized pattern), plus an adapted quantum mechanics math equation, led me to invent a quantitative method to compare similarity between patterns that could be useful for dating purposes.

What research have you done that’s focused in the space?
I haven’t conducted my own research yet; I need a database of at least 100,000 people to take the 16PF5 test. Reading up on research conducted by renowned academics, I’ve yet to see any scientific paper (published by an online dating site that claims scientific matching or any related academic) showing how its ‘recipe’ really works, i.e. proving they can offer enduring, long term relationships (or marriage) with low divorce rates.

I noticed that the word ‘compatibility’ has many meanings for online dating sites, academics, researchers, and psychologists.

Sometimes the word compatibility means a high degree of similarity between several variables (religion, education, income, personality, likes and dislikes, etc.) of prospective mates; sometimes compatibility means a mix of similarity and complementarity between variables; sometimes when a dating site says compatibility or even chemistry, nobody really knows exactly what it means! Some online dating sites offering compatibility matching methods use the word similarity as: “a proprietary Dyadic Adjustment Scale”, others mean: “a proprietary multivariate linear regression equation”, some say a mix of similarity and complementarity meaning: “a proprietary multivariate logistic regression equation”, still others mix similarity and complementarity meaning: “a proprietary equation to calculate “compatibility” between prospective mates!”

Since 2003, I’ve been testing online dating sites who claim scientific matching by creating dummy M/F profiles and using them as test points for reverse engineering purposes. I discovered that proprietary tests or models used by those sites could have great precision in measuring different psychological variables, but the matching algorithm (they apply) has low precision when comparing one profile to others. The whole precision (measurement_of_variables + pattern_calculation) is less than anyone could achieve by searching on one’s own! I solved that problem and contacted many researchers/academics and online dating sites, with no success until now.

What is LifeProject Method?
LPM is the codename of an innovative and high precision quantitative method that compares similarity between quantized patterns, like:
The pattern 6.7.6.8.9.6.7.7.8.7.2.5.8.7.3.4 is 74,79865772% similar to the pattern 5.7.4.8.7.4.5.6.4.6.8.9.6.8.4.4
The pattern 6.7.6.8.9.6.7.7.8.7.2.5.8.7.3.4 is 92,55033557% similar to the pattern 7.7.6.8.8.7.6.5.8.7.4.5.7.7.3.4
The pattern 6.7.5.8.8.6.7.7.8.7.4.5.8.7.3.4 is 88,38926174% similar to the pattern 5.6.4.7.7.5.6.6.7.6.3.4.7.6.2.3
The pattern 6.7.5.8.8.6.7.7.8.7.4.5.8.7.3.4 is 87,58389262% similar to the pattern 7.8.6.9.9.7.8.8.9.8.5.6.9.8.4.5
LPM takes into account the score and the trend to score of any pattern.

In the above example, it used the results of the 16PF5 test, but it can use the results of other test, like the 30 subdomains of the “NEO PI-R” Big5.

• The ENSEMBLE (whole set of different valid possibilities) of the primary domains of the Big5 is 10E5 (quantized from 1 to 10) and 10E10 (by percentile)
• The ensemble of the primary domains of the Big7 used by WeAttract is 10E7 (quantized from 1 to 10)
• The ensemble of the 16PF5 is: 10E16, big number as All World Population is nearly 6.7 * 10E9
• The ensemble of the 30 subdomains of the Big5 (quantized from 1 to 10 and not by percentile) is a terrible very big number: 10E30

LPM doesn’t include sex, sexual orientation or religion. It only takes into account personality (measured by a normative test, like 16PF5 or the 30 subdomains of the “NEO PI-R” Big5 Big5).

In LPM, “compatibility” (between prospective mates) is a high percentage of “similarity” between personality patterns, perhaps over 90.00000000% ± 0.00000001%
LPM algorithm calculates “similarity” between personality patterns using the following adapted quantum mechanics math equation.
BRA <#X| means person #X’s 16PF5 Report
KET |#Y> means person #Y’s 16PF5 Report |CQ| means Comparison Operator
<#X|CQ|#Y> means the Comparison between client #X and client #Y
<#X|CQ|#Y> == K01 + K02 + K03 + K04 + K05 + K06 + K07 + K08 + K09 + K10 + K11 + K12 + K13 + K14 + K15 + K16
(A) Warmth; (B) Reasoning; (C) Emotional Stability; (E) Liveliness; (G) RuleConsciousness; (H) Social Boldness; (I) Sensitivity; (L) Vigilance; (M) Abstractedness; (N) Privateness (O) Apprehension; (Q1) Openness to Change; (Q2) SelfReliance; (Q3) Perfectionism; (Q4) Tension. 16 independent variables that take integer values from 1 to 10

How will it help dating sites?
LPM is a new way to meet people based on similar personalities. I chose the normative 16PF5 test available in different languages, because no other dating site uses it. In August 2005, Dr. John A. Johnson told me, “There are probably undiscovered factors beyond similarity of any type that determine relationship quality.” I think LifeProject deserves an opportunity to prove it can contribute to long-term relationships with low divorce rates. If not, many people would be interested in meeting/contacting others sharing nearly the same personality.

What does it cost for online daters?
The annual fee for end users is expected to cost USD300 for the first year, with a yearly re-subscription of $30. Fortunately the US, Canadian, European and Latin American markets remain enormous. The “unexploited” Latin American market is now over $100 million.

There are currently no sites with the vision to see the potential for this type of matching method. The inevitable next step is for me to bring it to market myself.