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Online Dating: A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science
Abstract
Online dating sites frequently claim that they have fundamentally altered the dating landscape for the better. This article employs psychological science to examine (a) whether online dating is fundamentally different from conventional offline dating and (b) whether online dating promotes better romantic outcomes than conventional offline dating. The answer to the first question (uniqueness) is yes, and the answer to the second question (superiority) is yes and no. To understand how online dating fundamentally differs from conventional offline dating and the circumstances under which online dating promotes better romantic outcomes than conventional offline dating, we consider the three major services online dating sites offer: access, communication, and matching. Access refers to users' exposure to and opportunity to evaluate potential romantic partners they are otherwise unlikely to encounter. Communication refers to users' opportunity to use various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to interact with specific potential partners through the dating site before meeting face-to-face. Matching refers to a site's use of a mathematical algorithm to select potential partners for users. Regarding the uniqueness question, the ways in which online dating sites implement these three services have indeed fundamentally altered the dating landscape. In particular, online dating, which has rapidly become a pervasive means of seeking potential partners, has altered both the romantic acquaintance process and the compatibility matching process. For example, rather than meeting potential partners, getting a snapshot impression of how well one interacts with them, and then slowly learning various facts about them, online dating typically involves learning a broad range of facts about potential partners before deciding whether one wants to meet them in person. Rather than relying on the intuition of village elders, family members, or friends or to select which pairs of unacquainted singles will be especially compatible, certain forms of online dating involve placing one's romantic fate in the hands of a mathematical matching algorithm. Turning to the superiority question, online dating has important advantages over conventional offline dating. For example, it offers unprecedented (and remarkably convenient) levels of access to potential partners, which is especially helpful for singles who might otherwise lack such access. It also allows online daters to use CMC to garner an initial sense of their compatibility with potential partners before deciding whether to meet them face-to-face. In addition, certain dating sites may be able to collect data that allow them to banish from the dating pool people who are likely to be poor relationship partners in general. On the other hand, the ways online dating sites typically implement the services of access, communication, and matching do not always improve romantic outcomes; indeed, they sometimes undermine such outcomes. Regarding access, encountering potential partners via online dating profiles reduces three-dimensional people to two-dimensional displays of information, and these displays fail to capture those experiential aspects of social interaction that are essential to evaluating one's compatibility with potential partners. In addition, the ready access to a large pool of potential partners can elicit an evaluative, assessment-oriented mindset that leads online daters to objectify potential partners and might even undermine their willingness to commit to one of them. It can also cause people to make lazy, ill-advised decisions when selecting among the large array of potential partners. Regarding communication, although online daters can benefit from having short-term CMC with potential partners before meeting them face-to-face, longer periods of CMC prior to a face-to-face meeting may actually hurt people's romantic prospects. In particular, people tend to overinterpret the social cues available in CMC, and if CMC proceeds unabated without a face-to-face reality check, subsequent face-to-face meetings can produce unpleasant expectancy violations. As CMC lacks the experiential richness of a face-to-face encounter, some important information about potential partners is impossible to glean from CMC alone; most users will want to meet a potential partner in person to integrate their CMC and face-to-face impressions into a coherent whole before pursuing a romantic relationship. Regarding matching, no compelling evidence supports matching sites' claims that mathematical algorithms work-that they foster romantic outcomes that are superior to those fostered by other means of pairing partners. Part of the problem is that matching sites build their mathematical algorithms around principles-typically similarity but also complementarity-that are much less important to relationship well-being than has long been assumed. In addition, these sites are in a poor position to know how the two partners will grow and mature over time, what life circumstances they will confront and coping responses they will exhibit in the future, and how the dynamics of their interaction will ultimately promote or undermine romantic attraction and long-term relationship well-being. As such, it is unlikely that any matching algorithm that seeks to match two people based on information available before they are aware of each other can account for more than a very small proportion of the variance in long-term romantic outcomes, such as relationship satisfaction and stability. In short, online dating has radically altered the dating landscape since its inception 15 to 20 years ago. Some of the changes have improved romantic outcomes, but many have not. We conclude by (a) discussing the implications of online dating for how people think about romantic relationships and for homogamy (similarity of partners) in marriage and (b) offering recommendations for policymakers and for singles seeking to make the most out of their online dating endeavors.
... Dating app algorithms capture information about other profiles users like or dislike to draw conclusions about their preferences. On this basis, they generate a suitable pool of matches for subsequent swipes (Finkel et al., 2012;Sharabi, 2022). The swiping behaviour of users is particularly crucial as many dating apps apply collaborative filtering, a system that suggests users with options based on what similar users have liked (Krzywicki et al., 2015;Sharabi, 2022). ...
... To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of how users assess dating profiles, this study asks the following research question: How do users assess other user profiles on online dating platforms? This study conducted 80 narrative interviews with Tinder and Bumble users, two of the most popular dating apps for the straight market with a combined market share of 53% (Curry, 2024) that apply the swipeinteraction model, and share similar features and algorithms that generate matches (Finkel et al., 2012;Sharabi, 2022). Applying the grounded theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2008), this study found users assessing profiles through three features -photos, texts (bios, prompts, tags), and music tasteand through two patterns of assessment: single-feature and multi-feature. ...
... For example, gig platforms like Uber match drivers with riders based on their locations, ratings, and availability (Rosenblat & Stark, 2016;Stelmaszak et al., 2025), and Upwork and Fiverr match clients with freelancers based on the freelancer's skills, ratings, and project requirements (Kadolkar et al., 2024;Rahman, 2021). On dating platforms, matches are generated based on, amongst others, user-indicated preferences, information provided on individual profiles, and users' swiping behaviour (David & Cambre, 2016;Finkel et al., 2012;Sharabi, 2022). These proposed matches are the algorithmic outcomes, and should, ideally, fit the users' preferences. ...
Matching algorithms draw on user-provided information to propose "optimal" matches. However, user dissatisfaction highlights challenges for the algorithms in producing outcomes that align with user preferences. A central issue is understanding which user inputs best reflect user preferences to generate optimal matches. In swipe-based dating applications, swiping functions as a proxy for user preferences, guiding algorithmic recommendations. This study examines how Tinder and Bumble users assess other user profiles, focusing on specific features. Through 80 narrative interviews and grounded theory, findings reveal users assess profiles based on three main features-photos, texts, and music taste-and through single-and multi-feature patterns, with some assessing more consciously than others. By exploring user assessments of algorithmic outcomes in subjectively charged contexts, this study contributes to literature on matching platforms and user assessments of dating profiles, providing insights for refining algorithmic design and fostering user awareness to improve matching outcomes.
... Dating sites and apps provide users with instant access to an expanded pool of potential partners and allow them to easily sift through a large number of profiles (Coduto & Fox, 2024). Given these attractive features at the initial search stage, online dating is often assumed to enhance the efficiency of relationship formation (e.g., Finkel et al., 2012;Rosenfeld, 2017;Rosenfeld & Thomas, 2012). Dating platforms also tout the promise of efficiency for users to find a partner and commonly cite the fast speed and high success rate of relationship formation as salient evidence of this efficiency (e.g., Bumble, 2025;eHarmony, 2024;Plenty of Fish, 2024;Tinder, 2025). ...
... While existing research has mostly attributed the efficiency of online dating to its role in expanding the pool of and facilitating access to potential partners (e.g., Finkel et al., 2012;Rosenfeld, 2017), the efficiency of online dating beyond the initial search stage remains underexplored. As a multistage process, online dating involves not only searching for a partner but also communicating online, transitioning to offline meetings, and eventually forming or failing to form a relationship (Sharabi, 2023). ...
... Dating technologies are no exception. The perceived efficiency of online dating implies that it saves time for people to form a relationship (Finkel et al., 2012). ...
Online dating is widely assumed to enhance the overall efficiency of relationship formation through expanding the pool of potential partners. Yet little is known about how this presumed efficiency plays out beyond the initial search stage. Although temporal compression (i.e., saving time) is considered central to the notion of efficiency, individuals' lived realities of time and efficiency in online dating remain understudied. Adopting a grounded theory approach to analyzing 31 in-depth interviews with heterosexual Chinese immigrant online daters in Canada, we reveal how time-related expectations and experiences shaped their perceptions of (in)efficiency throughout different stages of online dating. Specifically, our participants started with an efficiency expectation of temporal compression, expecting online dating to save time. As the dating process unfolded, however, they experienced inefficiency through diverse temporalities, including temporal suspension and simultaneity in mediated communication and temporal reconfiguration during modality switching. These experiences contradicted our participants' initial efficiency expectation, prompting some to reevaluate their expectation and develop a preference for temporal slowdown in dating. Our findings highlight an "efficiency paradox" whereby the promise of efficiency not only runs counter to online daters' lived realities but also amplifies perceptions of inefficiency. Foregrounding the voices of racial minority immigrants, our study challenges the commonly envisioned efficiency of online dating and provides new insights into how digital technologies mediate intimate lives through shaping individuals' temporal experiences.
... Online dating sites frequently claim that they have fundamentally altered the dating landscape for the better. In this paper, Finkel et al. (2012) employed psychological science to examine (a) whether online dating is fundamentally different from conventional offline dating (uniqueness) and (b) whether online dating promotes better romantic outcomes than conventional offline dating (superiority). ...
... It provides unparalleled access to potential partners, especially beneficial for individuals who lack such opportunities otherwise. Through computer-mediated communication (CMC), online daters can assess compatibility before meeting in person (Finkel et al., 2012). ...
... This shift is not just about human relationships-it is about how technology is changing our social world in general. In the process of romantic acquaintance and compatibility matching, and computer-mediated communication (CMC), online dating has distinct advantages over traditional offline dating, according to Finkel et al. (2012). Rather than gradually getting to know potential partners through face-to-face interaction, online dating involve putting one's romantic fate to the work of a mathematical matching algorithm. ...
Finding a suitable breeding match for pets presents challenges for pet owners due to geographical constraints, compatibility issues, and inefficient communication methods. Existing solutions, such as online forums and social media groups, lack effective filtering mechanisms, making the process time-consuming and unreliable. This project proposes SwiPetAPP, a mobile-based application designed to connect pet owners based on their preferences, including breed, location, and mating season status. The application utilizes a preference-based matching algorithm to enhance the accuracy of recommendations while incorporating geolocation services to improve accessibility. By integrating a swipe-based interface and a secure messaging system, SwiPetAPP streamlines the pet matchmaking process, providing a user-friendly and efficient platform. The study follows the Modified Waterfall Model of SDLC, ensuring systematic development, testing, and evaluation. The system’s usability and effectiveness are assessed through user feedback and performance testing, with findings expected to demonstrate improved matchmaking efficiency compared to traditional methods. SwiPetAPP contributes to responsible pet breeding by facilitating informed decision-making among pet owners while enhancing convenience and accessibility in pet matchmaking.
... Das zentrale Element bei typischen Dating-Apps besteht im Durchsehen und Beurteilen einer unendlich erscheinenden Anzahl von Profilen. Die Möglichkeit, quantifizierbares soziales Feedback in Form von "Likes" zu geben und zu erhalten, ohne dass eine synchrone Interaktivität notwendig ist, macht das Durchsuchen von Profilen für viele Nutzer*innen sehr reizvoll (Cummings & Mays, 2021;Finkel et al., 2012;Krüger & Splide, 2019;Thomas et al., 2022). Das Interface von vielen Dating-Apps zeigt sich dabei als eine überwiegend bildbasierte Präsentationsform (Krüger & Splide, 2019). ...
... Der subjektive Erfolg oder Misserfolg auf Dating-Apps kann das Wohlbefinden des Einzelnen stark beeinflussen (Finkel et al., 2012). Betrachtet man die Kontaktaufnahme beim Online-Dating, so wird ein "Match" nicht nur als persönliches und direktes Feedback angesehen (Bäck et al., 2019), sondern es bildet die Voraussetzung für weitere Interaktionsprozesse. Mehrere Studien haben gezeigt, dass es nicht für alle einfach ist, Matches zu erzielen (Pronk & Denissen, 2020) Heino et al., 2010;Schwartz & Velotta, 2018;Zytko et al., 2014). ...
The advent of dating apps has changed the way many people date. Dating apps are advertised as bringing people together and making it easier to form both short-term and long-term relationships. However, many people are increasingly facing frustrations and challenges. The phenomenon of 'dating burnout' has only anecdotal evidence and appears to describe a feeling of emotional exhaustion accompanied by increasing depersonalisation and a sense of reduced performance in dating. The aim of the present study is to investigate the phenomenon scientifically for the first time and to identify various influencing factors and their predictive power for dating burnout syndrome using a sample of N = 2465 dating users and non-users. The results show that a proportion of 14% of respondents are affected by dating burnout and that both specific dating experiences (e.g. the feeling of lack of success, the experience of monotony due to repetitive processes, the experience of ghosting or the feeling of a negative cost-benefit balance) and individual characteristics of users (such as self-esteem and fear of commitment) contribute to dating burnout. The implications of the findings are discussed from a theoretical and practical perspective.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Das Aufkommen von Dating-Apps hat das Dating-Verhalten vieler Menschen stark verändert. Dating-Apps werben damit, Menschen miteinander in Kontakt zu bringen und die Bildung sowohl kurzfristiger als auch langfristiger Beziehungen zu erleichtern. Doch viele Menschen sehen sich zunehmend mit Frustrationen und Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Das Phänomen "Dating-Burnout" hat bisher nur eine anekdotische Evidenz und umschreibt offenbar ein Gefühl der emotionalen Erschöpfung, das mit einer zunehmenden Depersonalisation und dem Gefühl reduzierter Leistung beim Dating einhergeht. Das Ziel der vorliegen Studie besteht darin, das Phänomen erstmalig wissenschaftlich zu untersuchen und anhand einer Stichprobe von N = 2465 Dating-Nutzer*innen und Nichtnutzer*innen verschiedene Einflussfaktoren und deren Vorhersagekraft auf das Dating-Burnout-Syndrom zu ermitteln. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Anteil von 14 Prozent der Befragten von Dating-Burnout betrof-fen sind und sowohl spezifische Dating-Erfahrungen (z. B. das Gefühl der Erfolgslosigkeit, Erfahrung von Eintönigkeit durch repetitive Abläufe, das Erleben von Ghosting oder das Gefühl einer negative Kosten-Nutzen-Bilanzierung) sowie individuelle Merkmale der Nutzer*innen (wie Selbstwert und Bindungsängstlichkeit) zu Dating-Burnout beitragen. Die Bedeutung der Ergebnisse wird aus theoretischer und praktischer Sicht diskutiert.
... Das zentrale Element bei typischen Dating-Apps besteht im Durchsehen und Beurteilen einer unendlich erscheinenden Anzahl von Profilen. Die Möglichkeit, quantifizierbares soziales Feedback in Form von "Likes" zu geben und zu erhalten, ohne dass eine synchrone Interaktivität notwendig ist, macht das Durchsuchen von Profilen für viele Nutzer*innen sehr reizvoll (Cummings & Mays, 2021;Finkel et al., 2012;Krüger & Splide, 2019;Thomas et al., 2022). Das Interface von vielen Dating-Apps zeigt sich dabei als eine überwiegend bildbasierte Präsentationsform (Krüger & Splide, 2019). ...
... Der subjektive Erfolg oder Misserfolg auf Dating-Apps kann das Wohlbefinden des Einzelnen stark beeinflussen (Finkel et al., 2012). Betrachtet man die Kontaktaufnahme beim Online-Dating, so wird ein "Match" nicht nur als persönliches und direktes Feedback angesehen (Bäck et al., 2019), sondern es bildet die Voraussetzung für weitere Interaktionsprozesse. Mehrere Studien haben gezeigt, dass es nicht für alle einfach ist, Matches zu erzielen (Pronk & Denissen, 2020) Heino et al., 2010;Schwartz & Velotta, 2018;Zytko et al., 2014). ...
The advent of dating apps has changed the way many people date. Dating apps are advertised as bringing people together and making it easier to form both short-term and long-term relationships. However, many people are increasingly facing frustrations and challenges. The phenomenon of 'dating burnout' has only anecdotal evidence and appears to describe a feeling of emotional exhaustion accompanied by increasing depersonalisation and a sense of reduced performance in dating. The aim of the present study is to investigate the phenomenon scientifically for the first time and to identify various influencing factors and their predictive power for dating burnout syndrome using a sample of N = 2465 dating users and non-users. The results show that a proportion of 14% of respondents are affected by dating burnout and that both specific dating experiences (e.g. the feeling of lack of success, the experience of monotony due to repetitive processes, the experience of ghosting or the feeling of a negative cost-benefit balance) and individual characteristics of users (such as self-esteem and fear of commitment) contribute to dating burnout. The implications of the findings are discussed from a theoretical and practical perspective.
Keywords: online dating, dating burnout, well-being
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Das Aufkommen von Dating-Apps hat das Dating-Verhalten vieler Menschen stark verändert. Dating-Apps werben damit, Menschen miteinander in Kontakt zu bringen und die Bildung sowohl kurzfristiger als auch langfristiger Beziehungen zu erleichtern. Doch viele Menschen sehen sich zunehmend mit Frustrationen und Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Das Phänomen "Dating-Burnout" hat bisher nur eine anekdotische Evidenz und umschreibt offenbar ein Gefühl der emotionalen Erschöpfung, das mit einer zunehmenden Depersonalisation und dem Gefühl reduzierter Leistung beim Dating einhergeht. Das Ziel der vorliegen Studie besteht darin, das Phänomen erstmalig wissenschaftlich zu untersuchen und anhand einer Stichprobe von N = 2465 Dating-Nutzer*innen und Nichtnutzer*innen verschiedene Einflussfaktoren und deren Vorhersagekraft auf das Dating-Burnout-Syndrom zu ermitteln. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Anteil von 14 Prozent der Befragten von Dating-Burnout betrof-fen sind und sowohl spezifische Dating-Erfahrungen (z. B. das Gefühl der Erfolgslosigkeit, Erfahrung von Eintönigkeit durch repetitive Abläufe, das Erleben von Ghosting oder das Gefühl einer negative Kosten-Nutzen-Bilanzierung) sowie individuelle Merkmale der Nutzer*innen (wie Selbstwert und Bindungsängstlichkeit) zu Dating-Burnout beitragen. Die Bedeutung der Ergebnisse wird aus theoretischer und praktischer Sicht diskutiert.
... Online dating market has been growing rapidly and domineering apps readily became brands that target particular segments or demographics (Philips 2016). Consequently, today, all over the world, dating apps are rooted into the everyday lives of especially the younger and young-adult consumers, as popular instruments for finding intimate relationships (Finkel et al. 2012;Duguay 2017). Online dating applications operate, however through algorithmic structures that perpetuate "quite a harsh culture" for users since matching with a potential mutual interest essentially requires "the process not only of selection but also screening out" (Phillips 2016, p. 481). ...
... Nevertheless, they provide several advantages to users such as, opportunity to effortlessly meet multiple potential partners and simplification of the first attempt to connect with people. In addition, they enable easiness to identify alternative choices and advantages for cheating (Finkel et al. 2012). ...
This study explores the underlying motivations of consumers’ usage of online dating applications after the breakup of romantic relationships. The experiences of young-adult consumers who went through post-breakup grief are investigated through in-depth interviews. Findings resulted in twelve categories of motivations that participating consumers had regarding their usage of dating apps, in relation to managing the grief after breakup. Motivations are grouped under the categories of coping, updating, and desiring. Moreover, findings also demonstrated diverging strategies in using dating apps for emotional resolution. The study contributes to our understanding of dating app usage by highlighting important insights from consumers who benefitted from these apps to manage their post-breakup grief. Furthermore, we suggest managerial implications for the online dating application industry drawing from the link between romantic breakups and dating app usage to design marketing strategies that can better relate to shifting consumer expectations.
... Adapun alasan data diambil dari tahun 1970 karena berdasarkan basis data Scopus artikel pertama kali ditemukan tahun tersebut. Hal ini didukung dengan data yang menjelaskan bahwa tahun 1969 merupakan awal online dating berbasis komputer berkembang melibatkan para psikolog dan di tahun 1970 iklan pribadi online dating semakin populer (Finkel et al., 2012). ...
... Pada tahun 2024 topik sexual racism menjadi salah satu topik dominan yang mencerminkan kekhawatiran global mengenai bagaimana prasangka rasial termanifestasi dalam preferensi online dating. Online dating sebagai tempat yang inklusif dan beragam untuk mencari pasangan ternyata masih menunjukan preferensi sexual racism bagi para pengguna (Aldana & Salazar, 2024 (Finkel et al., 2012;Smith & Duggan, 2013). ...
Online dating is an interpersonal relationship process conducted online with individuals deemed potential partners. The shift in how people form relationships and select online dating platforms has introduced various dynamics and challenges. Online dating increasingly accommodates more explicit sexual preferences, leading to challenges such as heightened objectification and evaluations based solely on physical appearance. This study aims to analyze trends and developments in online dating using a bibliometric approach. From the Scopus database, 753 articles have been obtained from1970 to the present. The results reveal the research landscape of online dating, including the most influential researchers, productive affiliations and countries, research topic trends, developments over time, frequently cited articles, and thematic analysis. These bibliometric findings are valuable for future researchers as a general overview and initial information to further explore online dating topics
... Relationships transitioned from being stringent to becoming more personal (Markarian, 2017). Recognizing the desire for a romantic relationship often brings awareness to the challenges of finding an ideal partner (Finkel et al., 2012). ...
... Algorithm-based matching sites, such as eHarmony, PerfectMatch, and Chemistry, emerged in the early 2000s, providing matches based on user-provided data. The third generation of online dating, smartphone-based dating apps, gained momentum after the launch of the App Store in 2008, incorporating location-based features and gaining widespread popularity (Finkel et al., 2012). ...
Online dating has become increasingly popular in recent years, these platforms provide a convenient and accessible way to meet new people. Studies on the use of dating applications among men and women highlight how these technologies shape communication practices and social relationships. For this study, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was applied to discover the determinants of online dating apps’ adoption intention. Possible determinants that might affect the intention to adopt online dating apps are sought and critically reviewed. The variables proposed in this research include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and an additional variable – trust. Five hypotheses were constructed, questionnaires were distributed and responses were collected to determine the adoption intention of young millennials in Malaysia. The test results indicated that trust, performance expectancy and social influence influenced the adoption intention of online dating applications. Based on the results, for performance expectancy, it was revealed that users expressed concerns about the utility of dating applications in facilitating beneficial functions, such as broadening social networks, enhancing dating opportunities, and meeting dating needs. For social influence, it revealed that individuals, especially peers, who hold significance in their lives, influence their decision to engage with online dating apps. These influential individuals impact the users' intentions by communicating the benefits of online dating apps and recommending their use. As trust improves, millennials are less reluctant to adopt online dating apps, contributing to an increase in the user base for such applications
... Internet dating, especially the introduction of dating websites early on, proposed a new way of contacting and selecting partners (Finkel et al., 2012). Registered users first provided extensive information on their profile, preferences, interests, lifestyle and personality traits. ...
... This is relevant in understanding how Bumble users from different cultural backgrounds manage their privacy and trust during the penetration process. Research by Finkel et al. (2012) suggests that dating apps often reflect broader gender dynamics in society where in addition to being collectivist, women can also be more cautious in sharing personal information than men. Walther (1996) in his theory of hyperpersonal communication suggests that digital media allows individuals to present an idealized version of themselves, which can accelerate intimacy but also risks creating unrealistic expectations. ...
The purpose of this study is to analyze and describe the stages of social penetration in women in building intimacy through the Bumble application where women are in control in starting conversations and in relationships. The method used is descriptive research with qualitative methods. Data collection techniques used in this study are observation, interviews and documentation. Interviews were conducted with five informants who are active users of the Bumble online dating application. This study uses a supporting theory, namely social penetration by Altman & Taylor. Based on the results of the study, there are four stages of social penetration that are passed through by active users of the Bumble online dating application, namely orientation, affective exploration, affective exchange and stable exchange. However, not all informants can go through all stages and form new relationships (dating). This happens because in the process of the stages there is a mismatch at each stage, which causes the process of social depentration, or withdrawal. Unwanted factors and mismatches from informants cause the relationship to end, making the relationship unromantic or just friendship
... Additionally, Luo [66] found that individuals perceiving the web as entertaining and informative tend to have a positive attitude towards it, supporting the notion that pleasure influences attitude. Furthermore, Finkel et al. [67] noted that greater experience with online dating can lead to more positive attitudes, emphasizing the role of user experience in shaping attitudes towards dating platforms. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis: ...
This study explores the psychological impact of dating app usage on the mental health of LGBTIQA+ individuals in Southeast Europe, focusing on key factors such as anxiety, cyberbullying, perceived security, and self-confidence. Data were collected through an online survey administered to a representative sample of active dating app users within the LGBTIQA+ community, enabling a comprehensive analysis of how these factors influence users’ emotional states, attitudes, and behavioral intentions related to dating app use. The findings reveal that, while dating apps provide important opportunities for social connection and support, they also pose significant risks. Cyberbullying was identified as a prominent issue, strongly associated with heightened anxiety, reduced self-confidence, and increased fear. Anxiety also showed a negative association with perceived security. Among the examined factors, fear and pleasure emerged as significant predictors of LGBTIQA+ users’ attitudes toward dating apps, which in turn influenced their intention to continue using them. The results underscore the need for enhanced security features and inclusive design practices that prioritize the psychological well-being of LGBTIQA+ users. By addressing these challenges, dating app developers and policymakers can create environments that support healthier interactions and promote more positive experiences for marginalized users.
... Dating practices have been altered with the emergence of online and mobile dating (Clemens, et al., 2015;Finkel, et al., 2012;Rosenfeld and Thomas, 2012;Suh, 2013;Sumter, et al., 2017). About a decade ago, researchers started investigating the association between sexual orientation and online dating and predicted that lesbian/gay and bisexual (LGB) adults would be more likely than straight adults to date online (Rosenfeld and Thomas, 2012). ...
The major purpose of this research is to investigate whether bisexual adults differ from lesbian/gay adults in their adoption of online dating. Bisexuality is becoming increasingly common; younger adults are very much more likely to identify as bisexual. There does not appear to be any research that investigated differences between lesbian/gay and bisexual adults on relationship search and online dating. Results show that 1) bisexual adults are significantly less likely than lesbian/gay adults to adopt online dating and 2) bisexual adults are significantly more likely than straight adults to use online dating. Online dating offers the promise of helping bisexual adults make better matches. Future research should investigate additional differences between bisexual, lesbian/gay, and straight adults on the use of technology for relationship search, formation, and establishment.
... By focusing predominantly on themes such as risks, emotional vulnerabilities, and the commodification of relationships, the literature obscures the opportunities dating apps provide for people seeking to connect in ways that may not have been possible through traditional avenues. For individuals who may struggle to meet partners through conventional means-due to limited social circles, unique relationship goals, or specific demographic characteristics-online dating can offer a valuable alternative (Finkel et al., 2012). These platforms provide new possibilities for connecting with like-minded individuals and expanding the dating pool beyond traditional boundaries of geography and social circles. ...
This paper presents a scoping review of the qualitative research (N = 125) on the use of online dating sites and applications for adults pursuing relationships, including sex, love, and romance, from 2014 to 2023. Our review supports previous literature reviews’ findings, which reveal that research on the topic is predominantly focused on young, well-educated, ethnic-majority, and primarily female heterosexuals or men seeking men in Western societies. Hence, a sample-selection bias shapes our scientific understanding of online dating, leaving other user groups underrepresented. Despite the diversity of scientific fields involved in qualitative research, the methods used are notably similar, indicating a relatively narrow scope in both demographic variables and research approaches. Although the researched themes and perspectives appear diverse at first glance, the research often centers on problem-oriented topics, such as the risks and emotional aspects of online dating, insecurities in self-presentation, negative technological communication traits, and the de-romanticization of society. We conclude that, despite the growing body of research on online dating, significant areas of the topic remain unexplored. There is a need for broader, more inclusive research to fully understand the complexities of online dating in the digital age.
... It is important to note that this study was concerned with the daily frequency with which young adults utilized dating sites or apps, and not with the nature of their use (e.g., hookups or long-term relationships) or the specific platform per se. Many dating sites or apps function in similar ways: users can create profiles of themselves which include pictures and descriptive information (e.g., their age, geographic location, gender identity, and sexual orientation), as well as their relationship preferences (e.g., short-term dating, long-term dating, or friendship only) (Chin et al., 2019;Finkel et al., 2012), which then enables them to search for and match with other similar users on the app. ...
... That bearable lightness and casualness is perhaps the essence of hook-up culture. A review of hook-up culture (Beasley & Holmes, 2012;Finkel et al., 2012;Garcia, 2012) is beyond the scope of this article. My emphasis lay on a spree to see, evaluate and right or left swipe several hundreds of options in a day, as well as how the self is objectified and presented in a specific manner. ...
This essay explores certain aspects related to the projection and objectification of the self on dating apps. I explain how romance and intimacy have become a part of a wider consumerist logic—governed by ease of access, multiplicity of choice, frivolous interactions and diminished attention span. In an algorithm-induced mechanism, where human options are quick-swiped like commodities, visual displays and textual descriptions invariably play a significant part in determining choice and getting matches on an anonymous platform. I focus more on the careful curation of the self-image through short descriptions called user bios and what these bios represent not just about the user, but also about a range of other aspects that are integral to app-mediated dating. I argue how several users portray themselves as desirable objects waiting to be consumed and see others as commodities on the shopping window. Using several bios, I reveal how self-objectification also takes the route of overt sexualisation of the self or disdain for that amongst other users. I also argue how self-information announces boredom, disenchantment and doubts about the app to find a suitable match. Finally, I explore the non-obligatory casual nature of this sort of human interaction, where users are entitled to ‘ghost’—disappear without an explanation—making human interactions uncertain.
... However, the same desire that brings partners together can fade over time [18][19][20] , giving rise to discrepancies in sexual preferences between partners 21,22 . The resulting frustration might lead to thoughts of ending the relationship and exploring other options, especially in today's world in which alternative partners are seemingly a swipe away [23][24][25] . Thus, lower sexual desire for a partner (or desire discrepancies between partners) might underlie why many relationships eventually dissolve 26,27 or suffer substantial rates of infidelity 28 . ...
Sexual desire initially draws romantic partners together and continues to influence relationship functioning once relationships are more established. However, sexual interactions between romantic partners do not occur in a vacuum, and sexual desire can be influenced by the relational context as well as other situational factors. In this Review, we consider how sexual desire and relationship functioning influence each other across relationship development. First, we delineate how sexual desire changes over time and shapes relationship trajectories. We then introduce the relationship development model of sexual desire, which clarifies the functional significance of sexual desire in relationship development and the circumstances in which this function becomes particularly prominent. Next, we consider the reverse causal direction, providing an overview of how contextual, relational and individual factors influence couples' sexual well-being and the inclination to seek sexual gratification outside the current relationship. We conclude by considering unanswered questions in the field and discuss how novel approaches, such as using dating apps to recruit people at the earliest stages of their relationship, might provide insight into these questions.
... In other words, increased attention to alternatives exacerbates doubt and uncertainty about the current relationship and partner and consequently, reduces relationship commitment [18]. It is noteworthy to say that in light of recent advancements in technology, widespread access to media, and the prevalence of online dating platforms, individuals may be inclined to perceive an increased abundance of romantic alternatives [32] and this may also overshadow relational commitment. On the other hand, individuals who pay more attention to romantic alternatives may perceive more desirable choices based on the alternatives available to them and their ease of communication with those alternatives. ...
Introduction: Commitment is considered one of the most important predictors of the continuity of romantic relationships and is vital for the growth and stability of such relationships. The present study was conducted to investigate the role of Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (ROCD) symptoms and evaluating romantic alternatives in marital commitment. Method: The research method was a descriptive-correlative one. The statistical population included all married individuals in Tehran in 2023-2024, of whom 267 participants were selected as a sample using the convenience sampling method. The ROCI (2012) along with the Rusbult's Investment Model Scale (IMC, 1998) were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using the simultaneous regression method by SPSS version 22 and Amos version 24. Results: According to the results, there was a negative and significant relationship between ROCD symptoms (-0.37) and evaluating romantic alternatives (-0.40) with marital commitment (P<0.01). In total, these two variables were able to explain 40% of the variances of marital commitment. Conclusion: Overall, the present study indicated that symptoms of ROCD and the evaluation of romantic alternatives significantly impact marital commitment among married individuals. These findings underscore the importance of considering both psychological factors, such as ROCD symptoms, and relational factors, such as the evaluation of alternatives, in understanding and predicting marital commitment.
... B. im Rahmen von Fernbeziehungen) als auch mit reinen Online-Kontakten. Zum anderen wird das Internet mit seinen Singlebörsen, Partneragenturen, Dating-Plattformen und Dating-Apps aber auch zur Anbahnung sexueller Offline-Kontakte eingesetzt(Döring 2009(Döring , 2012bFinkel et al. 2012;Kaufmann 2011;Merk 2014).Via Internet kann man jederzeit mit einem sehr großen Kreis an Kontaktsuchenden in Verbindung treten und dabei u. a. gezielt nach körperlichen und sexuellen Vorlieben filtern. Identitätsrelevant ist die sexuelle Kontaktsuche und Kontaktpflege im Internet insofern, als hier die medialen Bedingungen es erleichtern, eigene sexuelle Vorlieben angstfreier zu erkunden und im computervermittelten und/oder Face-to-Face-Kontakt gemeinsam auszuleben. ...
Sexuelle Online-Aktivitäten sind heute bei vielen Menschen selbstverständlicher
Bestandteil ihres Alltags: Im Internet suchen sie nach sexuellen Informationen,
nutzen sexuelle Unterhaltungsangebote in Form von Erotika und Pornografie,
widmen sich der Anbahnung und Pflege sexueller Kontakte, schließen sich
sexuellen Szenen an oder beteiligen sich am Handel sexueller Produkte und
Dienstleistungen. Der Beitrag diskutiert die Bedeutung dieser sexuellen Online-
Aktivitäten für die Identitätsarbeit und zeigt positive wie negative Effekte auf. Im
Fokus stehen dabei sowohl Menschen, die sich sexuell im gesellschaftlichen
Mainstream bewegen, als auch Menschen, die sexuellen Minoritäten angehören.
... One might wonder how the patterns we observe online might inform our understanding of offline mate pursuit and dating markets. Online dating differs from offline dating in several important ways [28]. Because of the high volume of partners and low threshold for sending a message, competition for potential partners' attention is likely fiercer online than offline. ...
Romantic courtship is often described as taking place in a dating market where men and women compete for mates, but the detailed structure and dynamics of dating markets have historically been difficult to quantify for lack of suitable data. In recent years, however, the advent and vigorous growth of the online dating industry has provided a rich new source of information on mate pursuit. Here we present an empirical analysis of heterosexual dating markets in four large US cities using data from a popular, free online dating service. We show that competition for mates creates a pronounced hierarchy of desirability that correlates strongly with user demographics and is remarkably consistent across cities. We find that both men and women pursue partners who are on average about 25% more desirable than themselves by our measures and that they use different messaging strategies with partners of different desirability. We also find that the probability of receiving a response to an advance drops markedly with increasing difference in desirability between the pursuer and the pursued. Strategic behaviors can improve one's chances of attracting a more desirable mate, though the effects are modest.
Reciprocal recommendation systems are crucial for online dating platforms to provide quality matches and reduce choice overload. However, the design of reciprocal recommendation systems grapples with the challenges of estimating interpersonal compatibility and predicting the likelihood that two prospective partners will accept each other. Furthermore, despite the crucial role of users’ linguistic styles in determining user match decision-making, the contemporary design of such recommendation systems has not yet effectively incorporated this information. To bridge these gaps, we develop an end-to-end personalized Linguistic Style Matching-based Reciprocal Recommendation System (LS-RRS). We propose cross-user and within-user contrastive learning strategies combined with random masking to extract users’ linguistic styles, and further integrate visual and textual information using an efficient convolution block. LS-RRS further models the matching probability using a conditional probability function and introduces a preference inflation factor on the receiver side to account for the asymmetric roles of the bilateral sides. The proposed model addresses the challenge of incorporating users’ linguistic styles into reciprocal recommendation and details the modeling of the two-stage matching process. Extensive experiments show that LS-RRS outperforms state-of-the-art models in recommendation performance, with a 29.35% increase in NDCG@10 when incorporating linguistic styles. Our follow-up analyses further validate the importance and effectiveness of the linguistic style extraction design through word level and sentence level visualizations, as well as qualitative case studies. This research contributes to the literature on reciprocal recommendation and offers a viable solution for alleviating user choice overload on online dating platforms.
Creativity offers both survival and reproductive benefits, being a desirable trait in potential mates and linked to fertility and sexuality. We investigated whether viewing attractive faces of potential short-term or long-term partners in a simulated dating portal enhances participants’ creativity. We also explored possible mediators (arousal, mood, sexual arousal, motivation, and attraction) and moderators (relationship status, satisfaction, mate value, and sociosexual orientation). In Study 1, 483 participants ( M age = 30.06, SD = 6.37; 242 women, 241 men) viewed either four attractive or four unattractive opposite-sex potential partners and wrote self-promotional bios. No significant creativity differences were found between the attractive and unattractive groups. However, men were more flexible and produced more original ideas than women, while women showed greater fluency and self-creativity promotion. In Study 2, 494 participants ( M age = 30.84, SD = 6.06; 258 women, 236 men) viewed profiles of attractive potential partners for either short-term or long-term inclined relationships. Women's fluency and originality were higher in the long-term condition, but sexual arousal negatively impacted both fluency and originality when choosing an attractive partner for a long-term relationship, particularly when a real date desirability with the mate was high. Overall, the results suggest that creativity is influenced by the mating context, though the effects were modest. Future studies should increase sample sizes, geographic diversity, and experimental settings.
Background
Ghosting is a newly studied term that is mostly used for online relationships. It is described as one of the methods used for breakups. As follows, the channels of communication are sharply ended without explanation.
Objectives
This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Ghosting Questionnaire, which was developed to measure ghosting behavior, in Turkish culture. There are limited methods for quantitative research, as it has only recently found its place in the field. For the Turkish adaptation of the scale developed by Jahrami et al. (2023), a process consisting of translation, data collection, and analysis was followed.
Method
The study group consisted of 200 adults aged 18–39 years, 160 (80%) of whom were female and 40 (20%) of whom were male. The factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity were examined within this study. The Ghosting Questionnaire’s unidimensional structure was confirmed by CFA as part of the validity assessment. Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate the scale’s reliability.
Results
The results of the exploratory factor analysis support the unidimensional structure as in the original scale. The confirmatory factor analysis results show that the fit indices are at acceptable levels (GFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.97, RFI = 0.94, IFI = 0.99 and RMSEA = 0.03). Corrected item correlations ranged from 0.417 to 0.710. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient results show that the test is highly reliable (α = 0.86).
Conclusions
These findings suggest that the Turkish scale has appropriate psychometric validity and reliability and can be used to measure ghosting behavior in the Turkish sample.
Objective
This study aimed to explore online dating fatigue among millennial women living in India.
Methods
In-depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken with seven heterosexual women (age: 33.71 ± 1.98 years) engaged in online dating for at least one year. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was utilized to analyse and illustrate individuals' experiences and fatigue.
Result
Participants’ experiences revealed three superordinate and nine sub-themes: (i) emotional exhaustion and fatigue (repetitive conversation fatigue, deceit, and misogyny), (ii) physical fatigue (wasting time,energy, and excessive screen time), and (iii) cognitive fatigue (decision overload, hopelessness, compulsive and mindless swiping, and self-doubt)
Conclusion
These findings offer an understanding of the experiences and fatigue of online dating in millennial women. The findings highlight socio-cultural and cognitive-emotive factors associated with online dating fatigue, offering a foundation for policymakers and mental health professionals to develop evidence-based interventions.
KEYWORDS:
Online datingdating app fatiguedigital fatigueonline gendered experiencesdating burnoutwell-being
The study explores the perceptions of young adults regarding Friends with Benefits (FWB) Relationships. Itinvestigates how technology, mainly dating apps and social media, influences their motivations in seeking sucharrangements. Additionally, it examines the differences in FWB dynamics between men and women,considering the impact of societal norms on these variations. Snowball sampling was employed to identifysubjects, with a questionnaire administered to 50 participants representing a diverse mix of genders, includingLGBTQ+ individuals
Despite extensive research on language error, linguistic behaviors, and the genuineness of communication in online dating, there remains a significant gap in understanding the specific strategies used by individuals to initiate and maintain relationships in these contexts. This study investigates the negotiation and discourse strategies employed by interlocutors to initiate, sustain, and enhance relationships on selected online dating platforms, focusing specifically on Tinder and Tagged. By identifying these strategies, the study aims to provide a deeper understanding of how language facilitates digital interactions and relationships. The study adopts a linguistic-focused approach using the socio-cognitive approach to pragmatics as its analytical framework. Data were collected from 600 conversations involving thirty participants, with relationships on these platforms ranging from two weeks to three months. Conversations were captured via screenshots, transcribed, anonymized, and analyzed to identify negotiation strategies and interactional patterns. Six primary strategies were identified: Invitation Strategy, Familiarization Strategy, Needs Indicative Strategy, Disclaimer Strategy, Game Strategy, and Appraisal Strategy. These strategies illustrate the dynamic and purposeful nature of online dating interactions, where users aim to establish rapport, communicate desires, and present themselves positively while navigating potential social complexities. The study's findings contribute significantly to the understanding of digital communication in online dating contexts, demonstrating how users employ various linguistic techniques to achieve their relational goals. These findings not only enhance our understanding of digital communication but also offer practical implications for designing more effective and user-friendly online dating platforms.
Romantic relationships play an important role in mental and physical health. The initiation and progression of these relationships may be particularly relevant to college students, as they experience a period of personal and social growth while presumably away from parental supervision for the first time. However, some of the more prominent models of relationship initiation and progression have not been updated to reflect recent social changes, including technological advances and more general societal trends. In the current research, we use a qualitative approach to examine how college students describe the initiation and progression of romantic relationships. Additionally, we present data from two studies collected a decade apart to examine changes in perceived relationship progression over time. Results revealed four stages of relationship progression (i.e., flirtationship , relationship potential , in a relationship , and commitment or bust ) that were consistent across decades, with some minor differences. The contributions of these findings to current theoretical and empirical knowledge on relationship development are discussed, and promising directions for future inquiry are identified.
Humans realize the importance of having a partner. However, the process in achieving this goal is challenging. Online dating became a medium to build romantic relationships that can be done easily through an application. The recognition process between users starts with liking each other's profiles which is assisted by an algorithmic system. So, it is important for users to present themselves properly on their profile. This study aims to see how the user's self-presentation is formed. Through a thematic analysis of the results of a questionnaire involving 383 Tinder online dating users, it was found that actual self-presentation is an important point for online dating users who emphasize aspects of honesty and openness. Differences in the motivation of online dating users do not lead to different self-presentation views between them. Moreover, the actual self in online dating profiles is displayed selectively taking into account the climate of informal interaction on Tinder.
The increase of religiosity in Indonesia, which has coincided with the development of digital media, has led to the emergence of various services that incorporate religious values, including in the areas of education and the facilitation of the marriage process. This study examines “Kelas Jodoh” (KJ) or “Matchmaking Class” as a case study to understand the role of digital media-supported Islamic matchmaking organizers within the context of existing Islamic matchmaking practices in Indonesia, particularly against the backdrop of rising personal piety and the use of digital media. It investigates how Islamic values governing pre-marital male-female relationships interact with the technological affordances of digital media, contributing to the evolution of digital religion. The study applies a qualitative case study method, with data collected through interviews with the KJ owner and manager, as well as with members (KJ’s participants). The findings indicate that KJ represents a fusion of increasing Islamic piety among urban Muslims and the growth of digital media, thus continuing to shape and expand the horizon of digital religion. The study also demonstrates how KJ’s use of digital tools and its mediator role reflect practices akin to those of modern Islamic movements such as the Tarbiyah group.
Romantic relationships impact individuals’ mental and physical health across the lifespan. The link between relationships and health may be especially intertwined during major relationship transitions. Three transitional seasons of romantic relationships—dating, the transition to parenthood, and bereavement—are uniquely linked with health. To best support the health of relationships and the individuals in them, season-specific policy recommendations address experiences of dating, pregnancy/parenting, and grieving. Broad-scale recommendations cover education, placemaking, research and funding, and community efforts to support individual health within romantic relationships across time.
Online romance scams have emerged as a pervasive and damaging form of cybercrime that exploits the vulnerabilities of single women seeking online romantic connections. These scams represent a disturbing manifestation of entrenched patriarchal structures and misogynistic behaviors in the digital realm, reinforcing harmful gender dynamics and stereotypes. This paper presents a comparative analysis of a social impact study examining the victimization of single women in India and South Africa through online romance scams. Drawing from feminist perspectives, this study explores how scammers manipulate emotions and trust to gain financial and sometimes sexual advantages, exacerbating the challenges faced by independent, educated women in finding suitable partners. This qualitative study employed case studies to delve into the experiences of victims and investigate how social media platforms facilitate exploitation and deception. This emphasizes the importance of addressing single women's holistic needs, fostering solidarity groups, and promoting cybersecurity education. This research calls for collective action and collaboration among social media platforms, law enforcement, and policymakers to develop robust strategies to combat these scams. By analyzing the mutating nature of patriarchy and misogyny globally, this study underscores the urgency of addressing the systemic issues that enable the victimization of single women and disempower them economically and emotionally.
ภูมิหลังและวัตถุประสงค์: ความสัมพันธ์ความรักเป็นองค์ประกอบสำคัญในชีวิตมนุษย์ที่มีการเปลี่ยนแปลงตามบริบททางสังคมและเศรษฐกิจ โดยเฉพาะในยุคทุนนิยมเสรีนิยมใหม่ที่ส่งผลกระทบต่อรูปแบบความสัมพันธ์อย่างมีนัยสำคัญ การศึกษานี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อวิเคราะห์พัฒนาการและการเปลี่ยนแปลงของรูปแบบความสัมพันธ์ความรักจากอดีตสู่ปัจจุบัน โดยเน้นบริบทของสังคมทุนนิยมเสรีนิยมใหม่ในศตวรรษที่ 21 ระเบียบวิธีการวิจัย: การวิจัยนี้เป็นการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ ใช้วิธีการศึกษาเอกสาร รวบรวมและวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลจากแหล่งทุติยภูมิต่างๆ โดยประยุกต์ใช้ทฤษฎีรูปแบบความรักของลี (Lee's love styles) และการวิเคราะห์เชิงประวัติศาสตร์เพื่อศึกษาพัฒนาการของความสัมพันธ์ความรักในแต่ละยุคสมัย ผลการวิจัย: พบว่าในยุคปัจจุบัน ความสัมพันธ์แบบชั่วคราว (Ludus) และแบบใช้เหตุผล (Pragma) ได้รับความนิยมเพิ่มขึ้นจากอิทธิพลของปัจเจกนิยม บริโภคนิยม และเทคโนโลยีดิจิทัล ขณะที่การสร้างความสัมพันธ์ที่ลึกซึ้งและยั่งยืน (Storge) กลายเป็นความท้าทายสำคัญในสังคมทุนนิยมเสรีนิยมใหม่ สรุปผล: การศึกษานี้ชี้ให้เห็นถึงความสำคัญของการทำความเข้าใจพลวัตของความสัมพันธ์ความรักในบริบทสังคมร่วมสมัย โดยเฉพาะผลกระทบของระบบทุนนิยมเสรีนิยมใหม่ ผลการวิจัยสามารถนำไปใช้เป็นพื้นฐานในการศึกษาเชิงลึกต่อไป และอาจนำไปสู่การพัฒนานโยบายหรือแนวทางในการส่งเสริมความสัมพันธ์ที่มีคุณภาพในสังคมที่มีความซับซ้อนมากขึ้น
Human behavior in cyber space is extremely complex. Change is the only constant as technologies and social contexts evolve rapidly. This leads to new behaviors in cybersecurity, Facebook use, smartphone habits, social networking, and many more. Scientific research in this area is becoming an established field and has already generated a broad range of social impacts. Alongside the four key elements (users, technologies, activities, and effects), the text covers cyber law, business, health, governance, education, and many other fields. Written by international scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this handbook brings all these aspects together in a clear, user-friendly format. After introducing the history and development of the field, each chapter synthesizes the most recent advances in key topics, highlights leading scholars and their major achievements, and identifies core future directions. It is the ideal overview of the field for researchers, scholars, and students alike.
Human behavior in cyber space is extremely complex. Change is the only constant as technologies and social contexts evolve rapidly. This leads to new behaviors in cybersecurity, Facebook use, smartphone habits, social networking, and many more. Scientific research in this area is becoming an established field and has already generated a broad range of social impacts. Alongside the four key elements (users, technologies, activities, and effects), the text covers cyber law, business, health, governance, education, and many other fields. Written by international scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this handbook brings all these aspects together in a clear, user-friendly format. After introducing the history and development of the field, each chapter synthesizes the most recent advances in key topics, highlights leading scholars and their major achievements, and identifies core future directions. It is the ideal overview of the field for researchers, scholars, and students alike.
Human behavior in cyber space is extremely complex. Change is the only constant as technologies and social contexts evolve rapidly. This leads to new behaviors in cybersecurity, Facebook use, smartphone habits, social networking, and many more. Scientific research in this area is becoming an established field and has already generated a broad range of social impacts. Alongside the four key elements (users, technologies, activities, and effects), the text covers cyber law, business, health, governance, education, and many other fields. Written by international scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this handbook brings all these aspects together in a clear, user-friendly format. After introducing the history and development of the field, each chapter synthesizes the most recent advances in key topics, highlights leading scholars and their major achievements, and identifies core future directions. It is the ideal overview of the field for researchers, scholars, and students alike.
Human behavior in cyber space is extremely complex. Change is the only constant as technologies and social contexts evolve rapidly. This leads to new behaviors in cybersecurity, Facebook use, smartphone habits, social networking, and many more. Scientific research in this area is becoming an established field and has already generated a broad range of social impacts. Alongside the four key elements (users, technologies, activities, and effects), the text covers cyber law, business, health, governance, education, and many other fields. Written by international scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this handbook brings all these aspects together in a clear, user-friendly format. After introducing the history and development of the field, each chapter synthesizes the most recent advances in key topics, highlights leading scholars and their major achievements, and identifies core future directions. It is the ideal overview of the field for researchers, scholars, and students alike.
As Generation Z constitutes a significant demographic within the user base of dating apps, a thorough understanding of their priorities, values, and relationship approaches becomes imperative. Drawing upon secondary data sources, including official reports from dating apps and pertinent literature, this research presents a comprehensive analysis of global dating trends, discernible shifts in user behaviour, and prevailing market dynamics. Moreover, the study endeavours to contribute to the refinement of dating platforms by offering actionable insights.The engagements of GenZ in OKCupid- a popular online dating app has been analysed. The findings derived from this research are poised to facilitate user interface modifications, and guide the development of novel features that resonate with the authentic, self-growth-oriented, and inclusive values of Generation Z. By unravelling these intricate layers, the research aspires to empower dating platforms to engage with the dating landscape more meaningfully and adapt proactively to the evolving dynamics of Generation Z's dating preferences.
People are increasingly introduced to each other offline thanks to online platforms that make algorithmically-mediated introductions between their users. Such platforms include dating apps (e.g., Tinder) and in-person gig work websites (e.g., TaskRabbit, Care.com). Protecting the users of these online-offline systems requires answering calls from prior work to consider 'post-digital' orientations of safety: shifting from traditional technological security thinking to consider algorithm-driven consequences that emerge throughout online and offline contexts rather than solely acknowledging online threats. To support post-digital safety in platforms that make algorithmically-mediated offline introductions (AMOIs), we apply a mixed-methods approach to identify the core harms that AMOI users experience, the protective safety behaviors they employ, and the prevalence of those behaviors. First, we systematically review existing work (n=93), synthesizing the harms that threaten AMOIs and the protective behaviors people employ to combat these harms. Second, we validate prior work and fill gaps left by primarily qualitative inquiry through a survey of respondents' definitions of safety in AMOI and the prevalence and implementation of their protective behaviors. We focus on two exemplar populations who engage in AMOIs: online daters (n=476) and in-person gig workers (n=451). We draw on our systematization and prevalence data to identify several directions for designers and researchers to reimagine defensive tools to support safety in AMOIs.
The reliability of online dating algorithms has sparked considerable debate, particularly regarding skepticism about their excessive emphasis on evaluating and getting evaluated, which often overshadows the quest for authentic romantic connections. To understand the multifaceted influence of dating algorithms on end-users and explore avenues for algorithmic features considering the dynamics of human relationships, we conducted a mixed-methods study comprising in-depth interviews (N = 22) and a metaphoric co-design workshop (N = 12) with active users of online dating platforms. Interviews revealed that users perceive and respond to algorithmic evaluations with varied perceptions and behaviors, often expressing concerns about the emotional burden of constant self-presentation and the pursuit of quantitative assessments over genuine connections. In the design workshop, users envisioned desired algorithmic features to overcome investigated challenges, such as prioritizing personal values, tailored matchmaking, and support for personal growth in relationships. This research contributes to unraveling the complex dynamics of human-algorithm interaction in the context of online dating. By aligning algorithmic functions more closely with user desires and relationship goals, this study paves the way for more meaningful and authentic connections in the digital dating landscape.
Change in marriage, birth, and divorce rates following Hurricane Hugo in 1989 were examined prospectively from 1975 to 1997 for all counties in South Carolina. Stress research and research on economic circumstances suggested that marriages and births would decline and divorces would increase in affected counties after the hurricane. Attachment theory suggested that marriages and births would increase and divorces would decline after the hurricane. Time-series analysis indicated that the year following the hurricane, marriage, birth, and divorce rates increased in the 24 counties declared disaster areas compared with the 22 other counties in the state. Taken together, the results suggested that a life-threatening event motivated people to take significant action in their close relationships that altered their life course.
This research tested 6 models of the independent and interactive effects of stable personality traits on each partner's reports of relationship satisfaction and quality. Both members of 360 couples (N = 720) completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and were interviewed about their relationship. Findings show that a woman's relationship happiness is predicted by her partner's low Negative Emotionality, high Positive Emotionality, and high Constraint, whereas a man's relationship happiness is predicted only by his partner's low Negative Emotionality. Findings also show evidence of additive but not interactive effects: Each partner's personality contributed independently to relationship outcomes but not in a synergistic way. These results are discussed in relation to models that seek to integrate research on individual differences in personality traits with research on interpersonal processes in intimate relationships.
Over 400 married couples participated in a 3-year prospective study of economic pressure and marital relations. The research (a) empirically evaluated the family stress model of economic stress influences on marital distress and (b) extended the model to include specific interactional characteristics of spouses hypothesized to protect against economic pressure. Findings provided support for the basic mediational model, which proposes that economic pressure increases risk for emotional distress, which, in turn, increases risk for marital conflict and subsequent marital distress. Regarding resilience to economic stress, high marital support reduced the association between economic pressure and emotional distress. In addition, effective couple problem solving reduced the adverse influence of marital conflict on marital distress. Overall, the findings provided substantial support for the extended family stress model.
Two-hundred seventy-six volunteers completed a life stressor interview and psychological questionnaires and provided blood and urine samples. They were then inoculated with common cold viruses and monitored for the onset of disease. Although severe acute stressful life events (less than 1 month long) were not associated with developing colds, severe chronic stressors (1 month or longer) were associated with a substantial increase in risk of disease. This relation was attributable primarily to under- or unemployment and to enduring interpersonal difficulties with family or friends. The association between chronic stressors and susceptibility to colds could not be fully explained by differences among stressed and nonstressed persons in social network characteristics, personality, health practices, or prechallenge endocrine or immune measures.
Patterns of covariation among personality traits in English-speaking populations can be summarized by the five-factor model (FFM). To assess the cross-cultural generalizability of the FFM, data from studies using 6 translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) were compared with the American factor structure. German, Portuguese, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese samples (N = 7,134) showed similar structures after varimax rotation of 5 factors. When targeted rotations were used, the American factor structure was closely reproduced, even at the level of secondary loadings. Because the samples studied represented highly diverse cultures with languages from 5 distinct language families, these data strongly suggest that personality trait structure is universal.
The antecedents of marital stability (divorce or remaining married) and marital satisfaction (within the group that remains married) were investigated with a panel of 300 couples who were followed from their engagements in the 1930s until 1980. Twenty-two of the couples broke their engagements; of the 278 couples who married, 50 got divorced at some time between 1935 and 1980. Personality characteristics (measured by acquaintance ratings made in the 1930s) were important predictors of both marital stability and marital satisfaction. The three aspects of personality most strongly related to marital outcome were the neuroticism of the husband, the neuroticism of the wife, and the impulse control of the husband. In combination, the 17 major antecedent variables were moderately predictive of a criterion variable composed of both marital stability and marital satisfaction (R = .49). The three major aspects of personality accounted for more than half of the predictable variance. The remaining variance was accounted for by attitudinal, social-environment, and sexual history variables.
The authors investigated whether mind-set influences the accuracy of relationship predictions. Because people are more biased in their information processing when thinking about implementing an important goal, relationship predictions made in an implemental mind-set were expected to be less accurate than those made in a more impartial deliberative mind-set. In Study 1, open-ended thoughts of students about to leave for university were coded for mind-set. In Study 2, mind-set about a major life goal was assessed using a self-report measure. In Study 3, mind-set was experimentally manipulated. Overall, mind-set interacted with forecasts to predict relationship survival. Forecasts were more accurate in a deliberative mind-set than in an implemental mind-set. This effect was more pronounced for long-term than for short-term relationship survival. Finally, deliberatives were not pessimistic; implementals were unduly optimistic.
This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. Implications for theories of romantic love are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of the attachment perspective.
Confirmation bias, as the term is typically used in the psychological literature, connotes the seeking or interpreting of evidence in ways that are partial to existing beliefs, expectations, or a hypothesis in hand. The author reviews evidence of such a bias in a variety of guises and gives examples of its operation in several practical contexts. Possible explanations are considered, and the question of its utility or disutility is discussed.
Used a longitudinal study of heterosexual dating relationships to test investment model predictions regarding the process by which satisfaction and commitment develop (or deteriorate) over time. Initially, 17 male and 17 female undergraduates, each of whom was involved in a heterosexual relationship of 0-8 wks duration, participated. Four Ss dropped out, and 10 Ss' relationships ended. Questionnaires were completed by Ss every 17 days. Increases over time in rewards led to corresponding increases in satisfaction, whereas variations in costs did not significantly affect satisfaction. Commitment increased because of increases in satisfaction, declines in the quality of available alternatives, and increases in investment size. Greater rewards also promoted increases in commitment to maintain relationships, whereas changes in costs generally had no impact on commitment. For stayers, rewards increased, costs rose slightly, satisfaction grew, alternative quality declined, investment size increased, and commitment grew; for leavers the reverse occurred. Ss whose partners ended their relationships evidenced entrapment: They showed relatively low increases in satisfaction, but their alternatives declined in quality and they continued to invest heavily in their relationships. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
S. E. Taylor and J. D. Brown's (1988) position that mentally healthy people exhibit positive illusions raises a dilemma: How do people function effectively if their perceptions are positively biased? Using Gollwitzer's deliberative-implemental mindset distinction, we assessed whether people in a deliberative mindset show less evidence of positive illusions than people in an implemental mindset. Participants completed a mindset task and assessments of mood, self-perceptions, and perceived (in)vulnerability to risk. Deliberation led to worsened mood, greater perceived risk, and poorer self-perceptions, relative to implementation; control (no mindset) participants typically scored in between. Study 3 demonstrated that the mindset manipulation corresponds to how people actually make decisions or implement them. Results suggest that people use relatively realistic thinking when setting goals and more positive thinking when implementing them.
Previous research on the interpersonal effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) reveals inconsistencies. In some cases CMC has been found to be impersonal, task-oriented, and hostile. Other reports show warm personal relations, and still others show gradual adjustments in interpersonal relations over time. The past research results are also difficult to compare, as their research methods reveal inconsistent approaches. These inconsistencies include the treatment of time limits on group development, the neglect of nonverbal behavior in face-to-face, comparison groups, and other measurement issues. Each of these factors may obscure our understanding of the way CMC partners get to know and come to relate to each other through CMC. The present study attempts to address some of these concerns. This study explored the effects of computer conferencing on the interpersonal messages with which people define their relationships, known as relational communication. Observers rated the relational communication from transcripts of CMC conversations or from videotapes of face-to-face three-person groups who had worked in several sessions. Analyses showed that CMC groups achieved more positive levels on several dimensions of interpersonal communication than did face-to-face groups. On other dimensions, no differences between conditions were found. In no case did CMC groups express less intimacy or more task-orientation than face-to-face groups. Implications are drawn suggesting that under certain conditions, CMC may promote positive relational effects in ways that previous theories have not considered, and in some ways superior to more traditional media.
We examined emotional transmission in 68 couples in which one member was preparing to face a major stressful event, the New York State Bar Examination. This event is the final hurdle in the course of legal training, and it typically evokes high levels of distress in examinees. Examinees and partners provided daily diary reports of their activities and emotional states for 35 days surrounding the event. Concurrent and prospective analyses indicated that examinees' depressed mood on a given day was related to partners feeling less positive and more negative about the relationship. However, as the examination approached, this association declined to a negligible level. These results suggest that partners increasingly made allowances for examinees' negative affect. In this way, partners preserved their ability to be supportive when examinees needed the support most.
Although much has been learned from cross-sectional research on marriage, an understanding of how marriages develop, succeed, and fail is best achieved with longitudinal data. In view of growing interest in longitudinal research on marriage, the authors reviewed and evaluated the literature on how the quality and stability of marriages change over time. First, prevailing theoretical perspectives are examined for their ability to explain change in marital quality and stability. Second, the methods and findings of 115 longitudinal studies—representing over 45,000 marriages—are summarized and evaluated, yielding specific suggestions for improving this research. Finally, a model is outlined that integrates the strengths of previous theories of marriage, accounts for established findings, and indicates new directions for research on how marriages change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This work investigates assortative mating and convergence in personality and their effect on marital satisfaction. Measures of personality were collected from a sample of married couples before they met and twice after they were married. Results showed evidence for assortative mating but not for convergence in an average couple. Similarity and convergence in personality predicted later marital satisfaction. These results indicate that similarity and convergence in psychological characteristics may benefit relationships and that while spouses may choose partners with similar personalities they do not become more like their partners in the early part of their marriage.
Although major computer-mediated communication theories incorporate assumptions about the potency of chronemic cues, the claim that chronemic cues shape online message interpretation has received little empirical attention. This article reports the results of two studies designed to assess the influence of reply rate in benign and complex relational e-mail. Study 1 demonstrates that reply rate functions as an immediacy cue, with some evidence for overall sex differences in the perception of e-mail. Nevertheless, Study 2 demonstrates that reply rate is not directly associated with perceived quality of social support e-mail, instead finding a three-way interaction between emotional empathy, participant sex, and reply rate on message quality. Among the more important implications of these results is that although chronemic cues are significantly associated with online message interpretation, obtained effect sizes suggest that the influence of these cues is not as potent as some dominant computer-mediated communication theories imply.
This study examined the world of Internet dating. It explored the motivations of daters, their styles of courtship, and how they negotiated problems of trust and deception. The authors employed in-depth interviews and participant observation with men and women who met online. Internet daters sought companionship, comfort after a life crisis, control over presentation of themselves and their environments, freedom from commitment and stereotypic roles, adventure, and romantic fantasy. The authors also studied the development of trust between daters, the risks they assume, and lying online. Most participants in the study eventually met, which sometimes resulted in abrupt rejection and loss of face, but other times ended in marriage.
This research examined how certain features of online date-finding systems affect the types of message strategies users generate to refuse requests for romantic dates. An experiment analyzed how 190 participants rejected a date request from a member of the opposite sex. Politeness strategies varied as a function of the relationship between the requester and rejector (acquaintance vs. stranger) and the type of media (email vs. online dating messaging service). Results illuminate effects of interface characteristics and dyads’ relationship type on date refusal messages. Online daters exploited certain communication features provided by dating website messaging services which allow new ways for romantic refusals to be performed that were not previously available in face-to-face communication or earlier forms of computer-mediated communication.
Understanding interpersonal relationships requires understanding actors, behaviors, and contexts. This 2002 volume presents research from a variety of disciplines that examine personal relationships on all three levels. The first section focuses on the factors that influence individuals to enter, maintain, and dissolve relationships. The second section emphasizes ongoing processes that characterize relationships and focuses on issues such as arguing and sacrificing. The third and final section demonstrates that the process of stability and change are embedded in social, cultural, and historical contexts. Chapters address cultural universals as well as cross-cultural differences in relationship behaviors and outcomes. The emergence of relational forms, such as the interaction between people and computers, is also explored. Stability and Change in Relationships will be of interest to a broad range of fields, including psychology, sociology, communications, gerontology, and counselling.
The Adaptive Decision Maker argues that people use a variety of strategies to make judgments and choices. The authors introduce a model that shows how decision makers balance effort and accuracy considerations and predicts which strategy a person will use in a given situation. A series of experiments testing the model are presented, and the authors analyse how the model can lead to improved decisions and opportunities for further research.
Consumer choice is often influenced by the context, defined by the set of alternatives under consideration. Two hypotheses about the effect of context on choice are proposed. The first hypothesis, tradeoff contrast, states that the tendency to prefer an alternative is enhanced or hindered depending on whether the tradeoffs within the set under consideration are favorable or unfavorable to that option. The second hypothesis, extremeness aversion, states that the attractiveness of an option is enhanced if it is an intermediate option in the choice set and is diminished if it is an extreme option. These hypotheses can explain previous findings (e.g., attraction and compromise effects) and predict some new effects, demonstrated in a series of studies with consumer products as choice alternatives. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Using retrospective reporting as a source of “longitudinal” data, an analysis is presented of the varying degrees of homogamy between a homogeneous sample of engaged girls and three men with whom each had had a serious relationship. Evidence is presented which suggests that (a) there is a general tendency to become more homogamous through the mate selection period on some dimensions (e.g., education) but to become less so on other dimensions (e.g., urbanity); (b) some of the patterns more easily fit a theory based on variations in opportunities to meet different kinds of partners, others more easily fit a normative theory; (c) social changes during the selection period (geographical or social mobility) influence the level and pattern of homogamy.
Computers have changed not just the way we work but the way we love. Falling in and out of love, flirting, cheating, even having sex online have all become part of the modern way of living and loving. Yet we know very little about these new types of relationship. How is an online affair where the two people involved may never see or meet each other different from an affair in the real world? Does online sex still involve cheating on your partner? Why do people tell complete strangers their most intimate secrets? What are the rules of engagement? Will online affairs change the monogamous nature of romantic relationships? These are just some of the questions Professor Aaron Ben Ze'ev, distinguished writer and scholar, addresses in the first full length study of love online. Accessible, shocking, entertaining, enlightening, this book will change the way you look at cyberspace and love forever. Aaron Ben Ze'ev is a Professor at the Univeristy of Haifa in the Philosophy Department and has been the Rector of the University since 2000. He has published articles for many journals such as Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Philosophical Psychology, and Theory & Psychology among others. He has also had numerous books published including The Subtlety of Emotions (MIT Press, 2000) and The Perceptual System: A Philosophical and Psychological Perspective (Peter Lang,1993), both of which have been translated into Hebrew.
This accessible yet research-based text offers both foundational theories and practical applications of analysis and criticism of mass media portrayals of sex, love, and romance in a wide variety of mass media, from entertainment to advertising to news. The multidisciplinary methodological perspective comes out of a media literacy approach and embraces a variety of traditions along the quantitative-qualitative continuum. Focused on portrayals of male-female coupleship, the book is centered around the 12 major myths and stereotypes of Galician's Dr. FUN!'s Mass Media Love Quiz, each of which has a corresponding Dr. Galician Prescription that encapsulates healthy strategies--rarely found in the mass media--to counteract that myth or stereotype. Readers learn how to identify, illustrate, deconstruct, evaluate, and reframe the mass media's mythic and stereotypic portrayals of sex, love, and romance. They also learn how to use their own formal critical evaluations to clarify their own values and--as media consumers or mass communication creators--to share their insights with others. Thus, the learning objectives encompass all three major educational domains: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Part I of this book covers the five foundations: Myths and stereotypes of love and coupleship; Models of realistic and constructive love and coupleship; Mass media storytelling approaches, techniques, and devices; Research and theories of mass media effects; and Strategies and skills of media literacy. Part II is devoted to exploring the myths and stereotypes identified in the Quiz. Following several brief case studies and a summary of related research and commentary, each chapter focuses on analyses and criticisms of portrayals of sex, love, and romance in the content of news and advertising, as well as entertainment using Galician's Seven-Step Dis-illusioning Directions. Each chapter concludes with a "Dis-illusion Digest." While critical of unrealistic portrayals and the damage they can cause unsuspecting media consumers, Galician--a media literacy advocate--is not anti-media. Rather, her goal is to empower consumers to use these portrayals with more awareness of their possible consequences, to resist adopting them as models for actual behavior, and to consciously reframe them into more realistic, productive scenarios. This unique text is an engaging classroom resource for media literacy, media and relationships, and media and society coursework.
When Lewis Carroll's Alice falls down the hole into Wonderland, she encounters a variety of situations in various places: a garden, a forest, a pool, a kitchen, a castle, and a courtroom, among others. The characters she meets who become her acquaintances, friends, and enemies differ depending on her location in her travels, and, of course, her size. She follows the White Rabbit who is terrified of her larger-than-human height in the hallway. She learns to adjust her size to match the places, objects, animals, and people who cross her pathways. People have likened “cyberspace” to the world found through the mirror, the virtual reality on the other side contrasted to the everyday physical world. As the experience of people online accumulated, researchers differentiated modes of relating within cyberspace such as the use of the asynchronous and the synchronous or real-time media. They have begun to illuminate differences in the types of spaces, places, or settings online (see Baker, 2002, 2005; Baker & Whitty, 2008; McKenna, 2007; Whitty & Carr, 2006). A current line of inquiry attempts to explicate interactions that originate but do not remain in cyberspace, or relationships that span online and offline places. Researchers of online relationships recognize that people online often “felt as though they have gotten to know each other quite well” (Walther & Parks, 2002, p. 549) before meeting offline (Baker, 1998), entering “mixed mode relationships” (Walther & Parks, 2002, p. 542).
Examines educational attainment as a dimension of assortative mating. Barriers to marriage between persons with unequal amounts of formal schooling increased between the 1930s and the present. These increases may be the result of trends in average educational attainment, age at leaving school, and age at marriage. The degree to which schools affect the selection of marriage partners is dictated by the degree to which leaving school and marriage occur closely together and by the educational attainments of marriage partners. Variation in the average age at leaving school and marriage and in educational attainment induce variation in educational assortative mating. Trends in age at marriage affect both the structure of marriage and inequality within and between generations.
A model of breakup decisions is proposed that extends interdependence theory. This dependence model asserts that the primary issue in understanding breakup decisions is degree of dependence on a relationship. Dependence is great when important outcomes in the current relationship are not available elsewhere. Need satisfaction dependence measures identify important needs in a relationship and compare satisfaction of those needs in the current relationship to satisfaction in alternative relationships. Two longitudinal studies provide good support for the dependence model. Need satisfaction dependence measures significantly differentiated between subjects who remained in their relationships and those who voluntarily broke up. The studies also compared the model to simpler breakup models and assessed whether commitment mediates the link between dependence and breakup decisions.
Homogamy in personal values is indicated by a study of one hundred couples, including samples of both pre-married and married couples. To test the theory suggested by Winch that this homogamy is due to natural limitations of one's “field of eligibles,” these natural couples are compared to artificial couples which are matched on the basis of similar social characteristics. It is found that such controls account for a significant amount of homogamy, but a substantial degree of homogamy remains unexplained in this manner.
Objective
—To determine whether situations involving multiple options can paradoxically influence people to choose an option that would have been declined if fewer options were available.
Design
—Mailed survey containing medical scenarios formulated in one of two versions.
Participants
—Two groups of physicians: members of the Ontario College of Family Physicians (response rate=77%; n=287) and neurologists and neurosurgeons affiliated with the North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (response rate=84%; n=352). One group of legislators belonging to the Ontario Provincial Parliament (response rate=32%; n=41).
Intervention
—The basic version of each scenario presented a choice between two options. The expanded version presented three options: the original two plus a third. The two versions otherwise contained identical information and were randomly assigned.
Outcome Measures
—Participants' treatment recommendations.
Results
—In one scenario involving a patient with osteoarthritis, family physicians were less likely to prescribe a medication when deciding between two medications than when deciding about only one medication (53% vs 72%; P<.005). Apparently, the difficulty in deciding between the two medications led some physicians to recommend not starting either. Similar discrepancies were found in decisions made by neurologists and neurosurgeons concerning carotid artery surgery and by legislators concerning hospital closures.
Conclusions
—The introduction of additional options can increase decision difficulty and, hence, the tendency to choose a distinctive option or maintain the status quo. Awareness of this cognitive bias may lead to improved decision making in complex medical situations.(JAMA. 1995;273:302-305)
Using the five-factor model of personality, this study investigates the contribution of personality traits to marital adjustment. The sample is composed of 446 couples who completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, which measures the personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that self-reported and partner-reported personality traits were significant predictors of self-reported marital adjustment for both men and women. Personality traits were found to contribute to the prediction of marital adjustment over and above the effect of neuroticism.
This study presents analyses of data from the National Comorbidity Survey to assess the extent to which problems within marriage spill over to produce work loss. Results indicate that marital distress is positively associated with work loss—particularly among men in their first 10 years of marriage. Based on the average earnings of participants, work loss associated with marital problems translates into a loss of approximately $6.8 billion per year. These findings suggest that family interventions targeted at the prevention of marital problems may result in important psychosocial and economic benefits for business and society.
We used longitudinal data involving parents and children to investigate the intergenerational transmission of marital quality and instability and the effects of parental divorce on children's marital quality. Results indicated that parental divorce increased daughters' likelihood of divorce, that some life course factors mediate the intergenerational transmission of divorce, that parental divorce had little impact on children's marital quality, and that the transmission of marital quality is moderated by parent and child gender. We discussed possible mechanisms for the intergenerational transmissions of marital instability and marital quality.
This study contributes to the literature on compatibility in courtship by seeking to identify empirical links between social homogamy, similarity in leisure interests and role performance preferences, and the dynamics of premarital relationships. Data were collected from 168 working-class and middle-class couples married for the first time in central Pennsylvania during the early 1980s. The more similar individuals' role performance preferences and leisure interests were to those of the other sex in the sample, the more compatible they were with the person they married. Nonetheless, even after controlling for how likely individuals were to find a compatible mate in the population of other-sex persons, people tended to be better matched than they would have been had they been randomly paired (i.e., assortative mating appears to be taking place on the basis of leisure interests and role performance preferences). Assortative mating also was found with regard to social characteristics (age, education, religion), but such social similarity was related neither to similarity in couples' leisure interests nor to their role preferences, and, with one exception, social similarity was not significantly related to their courtship experiences and evaluations. Similarity in leisure interests and compatible role preferences, however, were related both to partners' subjective evaluations of their courtships (i.e., love, ambivalence) and to how they reportedly interacted with each other (i.e., conflict, efforts to enhance the quality of the relationship). In the conclusion, we place our findings within the context of previous writings on compatibility and mate selection and argue for the importance of establishing empirical linkages between various combinations of the partners' social and psychological attributes and their courtship experiences.
Using retrospective reporting as a source of “longitudinal” data, an analysis is presented of the varying degrees of homogamy
between a homogeneous sample of engaged girls and three men with whom each had had a serious relationship. Evidence is presented
which suggests that (a) there is a general tendency to become more homogamous through the mate selection period on some dimensions
(e.g., education) but to become less so on other dimensions (e.g., urbanity); (b) some of the patterns more easily fit a theory
based on variations in opportunities to meet different kinds of partners, others more easily fit a normative theory; (c) social
changes during the selection period (geographical or social mobility) influence the level and pattern of homogamy.
They were nodding and smiling in unison, and the woman stroked her hair and briefly licked her lips — positive signs of chemistry that would be duly recorded in this experiment at the new eHarmony Labs here. By comparing these results with the couple's answers to hundreds of other questions, the researchers hoped to draw closer to a new and extremely lucrative grail — making the right match. Once upon a time, finding a mate was considered too important to be entrusted to people under the influence of raging hormones. Their parents, sometimes assisted by astrologers and matchmakers, supervised courtship until customs changed in the West because of what was called the Romeo and Juliet revolution. Grown-ups, leave the kids alone. But now some social scientists have rediscovered the appeal of adult supervision — provided the adults have doctorates and vast caches of psychometric data. Online matchmaking has become a boom industry as rival scientists test their algorithms for finding love. The leading yenta is eHarmony, which pioneered the don't-try-this-yourself approach eight years ago by refusing to let its online customers browse for their own dates. It requires them to answer a 258-question personality test and then picks potential partners. The company estimates, based on a national Harris survey it commissioned, that its matchmaking was responsible for about 2 percent of the marriages in America last year, nearly 120 weddings a day.
Rising imprisonment rates and declining marriage rates among low-education African Americans motivate an analysis of the effects of incarceration on marriage. An event history analysis of 2,041 unmarried men from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth suggests that men are unlikely to marry in the years they serve in prison. A separate analysis of 2,762 married men shows that incarceration during marriage significantly increases the risk of divorce or separation. We simulate aggregate marriage rates using estimates from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and find that the prevalence of marriage would change little if incarceration rates were reduced.
This study examined the associations between self‐reported attachment style dimensions and romantic relationship functioning over 1 year in a sample of heterosexual dating couples between the ages of 18 and 25 (115 dyads at T1, 57 dyads at T2; 74% Caucasian). Relationship functioning was assessed at multiple levels of analysis via self‐reports of interpersonal functioning, observers' ratings of dyadic interactions, and measures of autonomic responding during the interactions. No significant cross‐sectional associations were found between attachment style dimensions and interpersonal functioning. However, individuals who reported greater attachment‐related anxiety at T1 described their relationships as being of lower quality, were rated by observers as interacting less positively, and exhibited greater electrodermal reactivity during interactions 1 year later.