Single Files

Having seen the painful struggle that many overweight friends had with shidduchim, Dr. Ehrenpreis proposed to look into how weight affects dating in the frum world. “We all assume that women who weigh more don’t go on many dates” says Dr. Ehrenpreis, herself a vivacious young woman. “But we don’t know that for sure without data to back it up. Studies in secular society have already shown that overweight women are at a disadvantage in many ways, including dating. I saw my research project as an opportunity to ask about frum dating in general, and get some facts about what’s really happening with the so-called ‘shidduch crisis.’ ”

Dr. Ehrenpreis collected enough information to test her hypotheses and complete her dissertation in 2010. She is currently working as a psychologist for a girls’ school in Brooklyn as well as with elementary yeshivah boys via Counterforce (an Orthodox mental health agency). But there’s more to analyze from the data she gleaned for her dissertation. She works as a research project manager for the Institute for Applied Research and Community Collaboration (ARCC), which focuses on research for the benefit of the Orthodox Jewish community, and she is looking forward to delving further into her data set to help produce changes that can target the real problems singles are facing.

Not Quite Black and White

Dr. Ehrenpreis began with the intuitive hypothesis that overweight and obese singles would get fewer dates, she also theorized that there would be a correlation between self-esteem and dating frequency (i.e., that those who had fewer dates would also have lower self-esteem).

There were some surprises when her survey data was analyzed. While the results didn’t turn her main hypothesis on its head, it did indicate that dating patterns are not as black and white as some cavalier “shidduch crisis” activists promote.