This is truly a tale as old as time. That's right, economists have solved the mystery of dating. Well, maybe not quite, but they have made some interesting observations. This particular study tries to determine what it is that makes someone desirable
Fisman says:

To really understand what people prefer, you need to pair men and women randomly in an experimental dating service and document the decisions they make. And so for a couple of years at a local bar just off the Columbia campus, I ran a speed-dating experiment with two psychologists, Sheena Iyengar and Itamar Simonson, and fellow economist Emir Kamenica. Some of our findings confirm well-worn clichés. But others surprised us.

The study found that many of the age old stereotypes still hold. Men seem to prefer pretty women who are less successful and intelligence than themselves. Women seemed to value intelligence and ambition, no surprise there.

Although the article is interesting it doesn't seem to control for the fact that there may be a bias in the selection of participants. Having never felt the urge to participate in something such as speed-dating, I am curious as to whether the kind of people who are more likely to participate in this sort of activity would have different preferences than those who would not. Maybe one day an economist will figure out what it is all of us enigmatic ladies want.