Rosie, your dating personality is:

Rosie, when it comes to dating, you are a Social Realist. This means you have an outgoing nature that puts people at ease and can make you a magnet at social functions. Meeting new people is a source of fun and entertainment for you. During parties, you may find yourself in one in-depth conversation after another. You may also find that people open up to you about everything from past problems, to their secret dreams for the future. Your curiosity and interest in what makes people tick help make you a great conversationalist. The people you talk with appreciate a good listener, and you like getting a window into their inner workings. This approach can be a boost to your romantic life, since the more people you get to know, the more potential there is for finding that someone special.

Because you're typically not an impulsive romantic, you're unlikely to be overtaken by waves of emotion or swoon for a pretty face when first meeting someone. In matters of the heart, you tend to find that it's more fun to let things develop. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and a solid relationship won't be either. By taking it slow, not only do you learn things about potential partners and their interests, you can also enjoy getting to know yourself. This insight can only make you a better catch when you find "the one." In the meantime, the more people you meet, the more you can come to understand the world and your place in it.

Based on your answers to the test, we can also tell that you've often relied on destiny to guide your romantic life. Tending to sit back and let the universe do its work, you may expect that one day you'll simply bump into your ideal mate like lovers do in the movies. Perhaps you've even found yourself saying, "When the time is right, love will find me." Because of this approach, meeting new people can feel like a random event. So far your search for love has demanded that you be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes fate works like a charm. After all, your past relationships have probably come from places you'd never expect. Still, if you've failed to make a proactive plan to meet people up until now, you may have found that you've gone for long stretches without dating anyone at all. If you take just a little time and make just a little effort to direct your search a bit, you could increase your chances of meeting someone right for you.

There are many ways you can find love. But based on your personality, your best bet is to take advantage of your comfort in social situations and your ability to connect with people. Whether talking to your dearest friends or to a complete stranger, when you take the time to listen and share your thoughts and feelings, special things can happen. Indeed, the rapport you can develop with people is one of your great strengths. Use this asset to its fullest potential on the road to finding your mate. Because you often prefer to take time to interact with romantic prospects rather than rely on an initial attraction, realize that everyone in your social circle has the potential to become "the one." It's all about uncovering the unique traits that will make them special to you.

You've just learned about your dating personality and how it can affect your approach to finding love. Now let's turn to some practical ways you can better prepare yourself to find your mate. Based on your characteristics, here are the top 6 guidelines to help you meet your match.

1. Be self-aware The more you are in touch with your own likes, dislikes, behaviors, and shortcomings, the more equipped you'll be to find love. Not only will self-knowledge aid you once you're in a relationship, but it can also help you to feel at ease when meeting new people. When you know yourself, you can be yourself, and this brings a whole new kind of confidence to your dating style. Just how can one become more self-aware? The most basic way is by paying attention to your actions and feelings in different situations. For a more complete view, consider asking the people who know you best, and who will be truthful, to tell you their perceptions of you. Sometimes it's hard to hear what others think of us, but be brave. You might be pleasantly surprised by what they have to say. No matter what, you'll gain valuable insights into your character. 2. Ditch your personal baggage When a relationship ends, you're typically left with a random collection of photos, fond memories, stray T-shirts, and mementos. However, what you may not realize is that each relationship also leaves a little something behind in your psyche, a reminder of the experiences you shared with another person. Some of these mental marks can be positive, like memories of laughter, special moments together, and thoughts about the times when you felt completely loved and accepted. Other marks are not so positive. Unfortunately, most people have had at least one relationship that ended poorly or one person who treated them unfairly. If you've ever been hurt like this, you know it can leave a chip on your shoulder that you carry into dating and future relationships. No one wants to feel pain, but to truly connect with someone, it's best to leave your preconceptions at the door. Just because one love used to lie to you doesn't mean your next one will. Don't cower behind your old fears. And don't presume that if a new interest shares one characteristic with an old flame, that they share all characteristics with that person. Similarly, if you always had to nag your old flame, don't start into your new relationship where you left off with your old flame. Don't start your relationship off on the wrong foot by showing your new interest you're going to nag them for no reason. Because you know what you want in your ideal partner, you probably don't see potential in anyone who doesn't fit a majority of your requirements. If this is true, when you meet someone, you're either likely to feel immediate chemistry between the two of you, or nothing. This pattern of walking away from prospects who don't wow you, effectively decreases your pool of potential love interests. As a result, you may be overlooking some very good candidates in search of "the one," you expect to appear over the horizon. There are several possible reasons why this is happening. The most likely is that your selectivity may signal a fear of commitment. Think about it. In the past when you've met people with whom you've clicked, did you fall hard for them? And if things didn't work out between the two of you, were you incredibly hurt? The pain you've endured in the past may be influencing the way you search for love. By being restrictive, you create a distancing mechanism between you and finding your match. The fewer the people who meet your standards, the fewer the people who can hurt you. Although it can be difficult, try to give your relationships time to blossom. Only then can you be sure that you haven't missed out on the love you seek. 3. Love yourself for who you are Chances are, there are some aspects of yourself that you like, and others you're not so crazy about. You may love that you're friendly and easygoing, but detest that you sometimes let people walk all over you. You might appreciate that you have your mother's beautiful eyes, but be endlessly frustrated that she also passed along that short gene to you. Everyone has parts of themselves that they'd like to change - although they may not readily admit to them. Rather than harp on the aspects you don't like, psychologists encourage you to begin accepting yourself as a whole person, warts and all. Remember that no one is perfect and everyone has faults. It may sound cliché, but it is our differences that make us unique. Those who can realize this truth and accept themselves for better and for worse are best able to connect with another person to find love. 4. Increase your self-esteem Feeling good about yourself is one of the most attractive qualities you can possess. Whether you realize it or not, positivity radiates in ways that people can feel. Think about the last time you saw someone who was really at ease. They may have seemed to glide right into the room and chances are, they got more than one person's attention. But it's all well and good to say, "Feel good about yourself," when the fact of the matter is that some days are better than others. Self-esteem fluctuates and certain events that affect it are beyond your control. However, once you know how a particular type of situation is likely to affect you, you have much more power over the repercussions. For example, if a friend of yours has a habit of making snide remarks that put you down, it's likely that you always feel bad about yourself after spending time with them. In such a case, you have options. You can stop spending time with your friend or speak up for yourself until the remarks stop. By taking either action, rather than just letting the pattern continue, you make positive steps towards building that kind of self-esteem that attracts partners. 5. Get in the right mindset Because you know that you are relatively good at meeting people and can talk to them with ease, use these skills to your advantage when going out. Before you head out the door to mix and mingle, set at least one attainable goal for yourself — something you know that you can accomplish before the night is over. No need to raise the bar too high at first; you want to set yourself up for success rather than failure. You might tell yourself, "I will speak with at least 2 new people tonight," or, "I will smile at three complete strangers in every single place I go." Once you've met your initial objective, feel free to up the ante. Set goals that may be beyond what you think you are capable of doing, and then see what you are made of. You might not reach every goal, but chances are, you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you can accomplish, and how people will react to you. 6. Last minute tips To further prepare yourself to get out there and meet the perfect partner, here are some thoughts to keep in mind wherever you are, to maximize your dating potential. So much goes into making a connection with someone, particularly with individuals to whom you're attracted. Meeting and interacting with new people can be overwhelming at times. To alleviate some of this undue pressure, one of the best things you can do is go into any situation where you might meet someone with a positive attitude. Several steps can help you. First, prior to going out, try meditating or taking some deep breaths so that you can socialize with a clear head. Second, when you're out and about, remember to smile and make eye contact with people. There's no need to grin or stare unnaturally. Just relax as much as you can and stay open to the people around you. Lastly, when you find yourself talking to new people that you might like to date, ask them questions about themselves. Not only will this approach help you decide whether a particular prospect would make a good match, it's also likely to put the person you're chatting with at ease. Most people love to talk about themselves and their interests, and they will typically appreciate that you've taken an interest in them. Remember that a lot of the advice people give you about life in general still applies to dating. If someone doesn't respond to you in the way that you had hoped, don't take it personally. Instead of being self-critical, try to think of the situation in a new way. If someone didn't smile back at you, maybe they were having a bad day. If a person didn't laugh at your jokes, perhaps you two simply don't share the same sense of humor. Think of these kinds of situations as saving you a good deal of time and energy. Your efforts are best spent on people who can enjoy and appreciate you. It's far too exhausting trying to figure out how to please people and make them laugh if they don't share a number of commonalities with you.

Once you've taken some time working with the advice in the previous sections, you'll be ready to get out there and apply what you've learned. Don't expect yourself to have fully mastered these tips before taking the plunge into dating.

Perfect self-esteem, complete self-knowledge, and zero emotional baggage are not realistic precursors for meeting someone special. If they were, no one would date. Instead, you can simply be aware of these ideas and learn about yourself as you go. In fact, committing to evolving as an individual and acknowledging there are still things for you to improve is the best way to come into a relationship that will need the same kind of commitment, attention, and love.

It may seem as if you've hit a wall in the dating process and have exhausted all your options to meet someone you care about. You may even feel as if the people to whom you're attracted simply don't understand you, or appreciate what a catch you are. Try not to let these feelings get you down. Make the best use of your determined spirit and try different approaches to getting to know people, from bravely approaching new strangers to reconnecting with old friends. As you experiment with different ways of interacting, note what works for you and what could be improved. Over time you can fine-tune these suggestions to make them a part of your natural routine.

In the upcoming four weeks, the relationship experts at Emode will challenge you to try some new ways of finding your ideal mate using the approaches best suited to your personality. You may have tried some of these suggestions before, but do yourself a favor and try them again. Because you are likely to have just learned a good deal about yourself, you may find that the techniques work differently now. Also, know that some suggestions may feel awkward to you at first. It's often hard to try new things. Only practice makes perfect.

So here's the first thing you can try: use networking to your advantage.

How to use networking to your advantage

Most people think of networking as being limited to the business arena. The word likely conjures up images of people in suits trading business cards, or someone seeking leads to find a job, or a sales person making connections to find new clients. But networking is much more than a way of doing business. It's a practice that can help you in your search to find your ideal mate.

Networking is all about using your current connections to make future ones. This technique can be put to use easily in your search for someone special. Almost anyone in your social circle is likely to have friends or acquaintances who are single and looking for a date. Just think of how many people you know — friends, work colleagues, neighbors. You can probably compile quite a long list. The key is to access this vast resource in a way that fits with your personality.

Networking offers many opportunities to meet new people and it can work for anyone — even in your shier moments — if you're willing to take a risk. As discussed above, it can be difficult to connect with people who you don't know. This being the case, it would be best to begin your networking attempts with people with whom you share a common interest. Why not try joining an organization that is dedicated to discussing your field of work? You can find a group for almost any field including engineering, medicine, marketing, and parents groups. These organizations are typically easy to join and immediately provide you with the chance to meet people who like doing the same things and have similar views on at least some larger issues.

Another suggestion you might want to try is to join the alumni association of your high school or college. Think about how easily you could strike up a conversation about "the good old days" with someone you grew up with. A past is a great thing to have in common. By participating in activities that bring your classmates together, you're likely to rekindle old friendships and form new ones. Surprisingly, you may find that people you never even spoke to during school now turn out to be the ones with whom you have the most in common. As you reminisce and forge new ties, you can also seek out networking connections who may lead you to Mr. or Ms. Right.

Finally, if you're looking for a real networking challenge, consider bringing your friends into the mix. This suggestion may not necessarily fit with your typical impulses, but why not try something new? Ask friends if they know any single, available people who could be a good match for you. When dating prospects turn up, have your friends set them up with you. This alleviates the pressure of making the first move. Dates may work out, and they may not. That's the nature of dating. Either way, you can be proud of yourself because you've broken out of usual behaviors to get yourself that much closer to finding "the one."

The more you know about your finding the right match, the better equipped you are to succeed in love. The Finding Mr. / Ms. Right test is just your first step to discovering the path to the life you've always wanted, so we don't want it to stop here.

To reinforce what you've learned about how to find your perfect partner, we're going to send you four, follow-up emails — one a week for the next four weeks.

During that time we will take a closer look at your test answers so we can tailor more advice to your situation, to your personality. We'll help you take your test one step further with more advice and strategies for finding your match for life.

Psychologists have been interested in studying the science of relationships since they first began running experiments in 1879. Since that point, they've looked at connections between events, objects, and people. In studying human interactions, researchers have examined relationships' many stages, including how to initiate a relationship and how to maintain it so that both partners are satisfied.

As psychologists broadened their knowledge of relationships through the years, they began to carve out several distinct categories from the main topic of relationships. These categories range anywhere from the impact of major life events of a relationship to the art of communication to what people are doing and thinking when they are looking for love.

In addition, experts have dissected each evolutionary stage of a relationship to gain insight. How do people initiate contact? How do they meet? At what point does it become a romantic relationship? In short, every step of the process has been studied, from how to meet someone to deciding to get married.

One expert from the University of Houston looked at how people's beliefs influence the way their relationships unfold. This research found that individuals fall into one of two categories when looking for love: they either feel that there is someone with whom they are meant to be ("idealists") or they feel that successful relationships take time to develop ("realists"). Results showed that whichever belief was held, people's attitudes had a definite influence on how they went about meeting new people and finding romantic partners.

Everyone has some idea of what constitutes a good relationship, as well as their own particular approach to dating. Emode's "Finding Mr./Ms. Right" takes your beliefs into account as it develops a step-by-step plan to help you find your perfect partner. By melding our extensive research with your answers, we arrive at a picture of your personality and suggestions about how you can best use your individual traits to connect with "the one" for you.

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