CBS

Next time you swipe left on Tinder, you can blame Ted Mosby for your troubles.

A new study in an upcoming issue of Psychology of Popular Media Culture (given to New York Magazine) says that people who watch romance-heavy sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory tend be more disillusioned with the idea of love and romance. For people who watch a lot of romantic comedies and reality dating shows, the opposite was true.

So how does this play out in the real world? According to New York Magazine‘s reading of the study:

The real-life implications here are mostly speculative, but romantics usually report happier, more committed relationships than their more realistic counterparts.

Hey, we didn’t say it, science said it. Although this does seem to fly in the face of the insanely negative fan reaction to the HIMYM finale, where the writers rejected a fairy-tale ending for one involving death and two kids insisting that their dad sleep with a woman they call “Aunt.” Well, maybe HIMYM fans will all start to feel better after watching The Bachelorette and all that totally real true love. You never know.