Futurity.org » online dating

Online dating dumps the stigma

Susan Hagen-Rochester — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:32:05 +0000

U. ROCHESTER (US) — Online dating has become the second-most-common way for couples to meet, behind only meeting through friends, according to a new analysis of the industry.

The report reviews more than 400 psychology studies and public interest surveys, painting a picture of an industry that, according to one industry estimate, attracted 25 million unique users around the world in April 2011 alone.

Online daters tend to ditch ‘wish lists’

Hilary Hurd Anyaso-Northwestern — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:44:57 +0000

NORTHWESTERN / TEXAS A&M (US) — Online daters are quick to look for a partner that fulfills a wish list of ideal characteristics—but those ideals may go by the wayside once they actually meet in person.

“People have ideas about the abstract qualities they’re looking for in a romantic partner,” says Paul Eastwick, assistant professor of psychology at Texas A&M and lead author of a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “But once you actually meet somebody face to face, those ideal preferences for traits tend to be quite flexible.”

Online daters reluctant to list political views

Deborah Baum-Brown — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:03:34 +0000

BROWN / PENN STATE (US) — Singles are more likely to admit they are overweight on their online dating profiles than to say they are politically liberal or conservative, a new study shows.

“Because we know that long-term mates are more politically similar than random attachment might predict, we were interested to see how people seeking a mate end up with people who share their political values,” says study co-author Rose McDermott, a political scientist at Brown University. “This is particularly important because political ideology appears to be in part heritable, and so mates pass their ideology on to their children.”

For their study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, McDermott and researchers from Penn State and the University of Miami randomly sampled 2,944 profiles from a popular Internet dating site and examined whether people indicated an interest in politics or selected a specific political view.

Whites prefer whites when dating online

Yasmin Anwar-UC Berkeley — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:56:17 +0000

UC BERKELEY (US) — The quest for a post-racial society continues, even in the world of online dating, new research shows.

Data from more than 1 million profiles of singles looking for love online confirms that whites overwhelmingly prefer to date members of their own race. The same is not true for blacks, especially men, who are far more likely to cross the race barrier to meet a mate.

Do online daters love to lie?

Jill Jess-Kansas — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:13:33 +0000

In the study, men admitted to lying more overall, but women were most likely to lie about their weight. Because online daters hope to meet face-to-face eventually, the amount of lying is quite small, says Jeffrey Hall. “Online daters shouldn’t be concerned that most people are presenting a false impression of themselves,” he adds. “What influences face-to-face dating influences the online world, too.” (Courtesy: iStockphoto)

U. KANSAS (US)—People who tend be a little dishonest when dating online would likely stretch the truth on a face-to-face date, too—all in an effort to make others like them.

Jeffrey Hall, assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, surveyed more than 5,000 participants in a national Internet matchmaking service to determine what kinds of people are most likely to lie during the online dating process.

Seniors surfing for love

Mike Ferlazzo-Iowa State — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:57:07 +0000

Spouses who meet online are older, less likely to be marrying for the first time, and have much shorter courtships. “There’s an interesting contradiction there because the people who look online may not be perceived as being serious [by friends and family],” says Alicia Cast. “But the people who are doing the actual searching may look at it as a way to be incredibly serious about the process.” (Courtesy: iStockphoto)

IOWA STATE (US)—Older adults who are too busy to find a relationship in the conventional way are turning to the Internet—and are largely successful in making desired connections.

“In many cases, there are some real structural forces that encourage the support and use of these technologies,” says Alicia Cast, associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University.