A new study suggests that men find women with enhanced photo on dating sites less trustworthy.

Women who enhance their photographs on dating sites are considered to be catfish by males viewing their profiles. The term refers to a fake online profile, usually of a woman, created to attract virtual suitors.

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It is a common practice of dating site users to enhance their photos before uploading them on dating sites to put their best "face" forward and they believe it can help them score more dates.

Researchers at the University of Connecticut have the answer based on their survey answered by 305 heterosexual participants from ages 17 to 35.

Pictures included enhanced photographs and images of those where lighting was adequate but unplanned, and whose hair was untreated and and makeup was absent. Researchers asked participants about the subject's attractiveness, trustworthiness, how similar they believed they were to the person in the photo and their desire to date the subject in the picture.

They have discovered that men rated enhanced pictures of women as more attractive, but also less trustworthy. Part of the apprehension of males was that really great-looking women may not be as good looking as their picture showed.

Females, on the other hand, viewed the subjects of enhanced photos as both more attractive and more trustworthy than those seen in unaltered images.

"Trust is an important part of any relationship and it certainly plays an important role in the forging of new social bonds in the dating context. Yet, we found an interesting relationship between attractiveness and trust for males who were viewing female profile pictures. Specifically, men typically found the more beautified and therefore more attractive profile to also be less trustworthy," said Rory McGloin, study author from the University of Connecticut, said in a press release.

Findings offer an important highlight of the concept of cat-fishing and the culture of online dating. It is considered both normal and acceptable for individuals' to mislead or deceive their potential suitors.

The study will be presented at the 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which runs May 21-25.

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