Beauty might only be as deep as your skin, but the way people look counts for everything when they join speed dating events, according to researchers in Edinburgh.

When the human race searches for a partner, they seem to become picky when it comes to searching in a large group, which is contrary to finding a mate with animals. As a result of this, there are no clever lines that can make up for looks when people speed date.

At the British University of Edinburgh, researchers who have studied the phenomenon think that when individuals are faced with too many choices, they resort to tactless approaches, like choosing a potential candidate based on only their looks.

The researchers conducted a study on 118 speed date sessions with groups of 7 to 36 people. They found that people will trade off different qualities in potential candidates’ physical characteristics for intelligence when they are in smaller groups. However, when they are in bigger groups, they have more choices, and with those other choices, they tend to approach candidates based on their looks alone.

According to New Scientist magazine, when humans have to make a decision quickly, such as choosing a person to date by speed dating, they don’t have much else to base our decision on, which is caused from the human nature of being monogamous.

When asked if it really matters, Dr. Lenton told New Scientist that it doesn’t if the only that the candidates are looking for is a fling.