Dating has always involved some guessing. Lately, though, the guessing feels like the whole thing.

In Body+Soul’s 2026 Sex Census , mixed signals topped Australians’ list of modern dating frustrations at 55%, ahead of ghosting at 37% and unclear intentions at 35%. And anyone who’s dated recently probably knows the routine. You have a great first date, get a sweet text afterward, and then hear absolutely nothing for days. Meanwhile, this person somehow finds time to watch every single one of your Instagram Stories.

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Psychiatrist Amir Levine, co-author of Attached , thinks we should stop calling these situations mixed signals. “Instead of calling it mixed signals, really, what it is, is uncertainty,” he told Body+Soul . And the longer you’re left wondering where you stand, the more time you can end up spending thinking about someone you barely know.

There’s actually research behind that.…