If you're in good shape, a guy, and you use dating apps, chances are you have either used a shirtless picture on your profile, or thought about it.

This is a much more complicated topic than it first seems. Showing a six pack is good right? ... Well...

Okcupid did a study way back showing that guys with shirtless photos got more messages from women. But only when the women were quite young and when the women were over around 30 years old; they counted it as a negative. The problem with it is that some of these internal studies by Okcupid have failed later replication. Meaning the data cannot be fully trusted. Another issue with the study is that not all men will post shirtless pics. Presumably, only those who are in good shape will do so. That means we're comparing apples to oranges here and what one fit guy should take away from this is unclear.

I did some follow up experiments on Photofeeler, where I would test pics of shirtless guys against their identical photo except for a t-shirt photoshopped on. This isolates the "shirtless" variable and is therefore a more controlled experiment. Turns out the results from these tests generally indicate that the guy seems equally attractive with shirt on or off, but that he scores lower on the "smart" and "trustworthy" categories. I also see that the ratings are more inconsistent with the shirtless pics. Women disagree a lot on them. Some seem to hate them and others are like "hell yeah".

After talking to women about it; two factors seem to come into play. One is her cultural values. If she's sexually conservative she's less likely to appreciate shirtless pics.

The other thing is what she's looking for. Women see a guy with a shirtless pic and will assume he's looking for casual sex only. So that means the shirtless photo generally will lead to less matches. But you may get more of the casual sex-friendly and sexually liberal matches. It's like a filter. You also might exclude some women who are insecure about their own bodies or those who are out of shape themselves. The entire profile also needs to be coherent for best results. Having a shirtless pic and stating you're "looking for something serious" is probably not going to go over well. It seems like you're lying.

There are ways to make a shirtless photo work better. Don't put more than one in your picture stack. Don't have it be a mirror selfie. Be on the beach or do something where it's natural for you to be shirtless. Try to make it seem like you were busy doing an activity rather than posing for the camera.

Last time I used a shirtless pic it lead to poor results. I have some new shots now and, they score mixed but some women seem really excited about them and rate them "very attractive" so I'll see how it goes.

The take-away? Be careful how you go about using a shirtless photo. You will eliminate some women by using it. You'll probably get fewer matches. The question is if that's worth it for what you're looking for, and being possibly slightly more appealing to a target audience that you prefer. It's one of those things that women don't agree on. It's controversial. If you want to experiment, have fun! If you want to play it safe and maximize the number of matches, or you're looking for something serious: keep your shirt on.

Best of luck out there!