Futurity.org » relationships

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.

Teens with autism often socially isolated

Jessica Martin-WUSTL — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:52:25 +0000

WASHINGTON U.-ST.LOUIS (US) — Teens with autism face major obstacles to social life outside of school, according to a new study that emphasizes the danger of limited peer relationships and the importance of group activities.

Hanging out with friends after school and on the weekends is a vital part of a teen’s social life. But for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), social activity outside of school is a rarity, finds a new study published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.

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.

Committed sex may deter teen misbehavior

Tim Green-U. Texas — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:36:52 +0000

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN/U. OREGON (US) — Sexually active teens in committed, romantic relationships are less likely to engage in delinquent behavior than teens who have casual sex or those who don’t have sex at all.

A new study, published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, also finds that teens who have sex with non-dating partners, known as “hooking up,” show higher levels of antisocial behavior compared to the other groups.

Sex suffers when his pals become hers

William Harms-Chicago — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:54:48 +0000

U. CHICAGO (US) — Sexual problems can develop, including erectile dysfunction, when a female partner comes between a man and his male friends.

Researchers describe the situation as “partner betweenness.”

Flashy spending doesn’t get the girl

David Ruth-Rice — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:50:07 +0000

RICE U. (US) — Just like preening peacocks, some men spend money on conspicuous goods in an attempt to lure women into short-term relationships. But women aren’t buying it.

A new study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, finds that while a woman may find a man who chooses to purchase a flashy luxury product (such as a Porsche) more desirable than a man who purchases a non-luxury item (such as a Honda Civic), there’s a catch.

Safe sex less likely with committed gays

Marla Paul-Northwestern — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:58:39 +0000

NORTHWESTERN (US) — Gay young men in serious relationships are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who hook up with casual partners.

The finding, published in the journal Health Psychology, points to the importance of directing HIV prevention toward young gay couples—who account for nearly 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in adolescents and young adults in the U.S. and who also have the highest increase in new HIV/AIDS infections.

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.

It’s lovely to have something in common

Adam Gorlick-Stanford — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:01:31 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Simply sharing a love for something—a favorite band or book—is enough to make you care about someone you’ve just met.

In a set of experiments, researchers found that when two people share just a few things in common, one can take on the feelings and physical reactions of the other who has been placed in an uncomfortable situation.