By Suzanna Smith, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida
Reviewed by Victor Harris, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida
“Back in the day,” couples found romantic partners by meeting someone at school or work, through a friend, or at a social gathering, and then spending time together. Today, however, online dating has become an extremely popular way to meet prospective partners. Millions of single adults worldwide visit online dating sites on a daily basis.
In fact, some suggest that online dating might be a better way to meet someone, because dating sites post information about many potential partners. Psychologists writing in Scientific American and Psychological Science in the Public Interest wanted to find out whether this could be true. Their results were somewhat mixed.
Online dating can be helpful in that it offers access to potential partners when this access is difficult because, for example, people have moved to a new area, are a minority sexual orientation, or “can’t find the time” to attend singles events (Finkel & Sprecher, 2012, ¶4). Also, most sites screen out people who are likely to be poor partners for anyone.
On the other hand, viewing someone’s profile online before meeting them doesn’t really capture what we know from research makes a relationship “tick”—the actual interaction between partners. Profiles don’t reveal nonverbal cues, physical attraction, couple dynamics, or the ability to manage conflict and work together. They may actually misrepresent the individual.
While online dating seems to be here to stay, these researchers suggest that presently it’s probably best viewed as a tool for meeting others, not as a scientific way to find the perfect partner.
(Image credit: eHarmony for bananas by Charles Barilleaux. CC license.)
References:
Finkel, E. J., Eastwick, P.W., Karney, B. R., Reis, H. T., Sprecher, S. (2012). Online dating: A critical analysis from the perspective of psychological science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(1), 3-66. doi: 10.1177/1529100612436522. Retrieved from http://psi.sagepub.com/content/13/1/3.full.pdf+html
Finkel, E. J. & Sprecher, S. (May 8, 2012). The scientific flaws of online dating sites: What the “matching algorithms” miss. Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientific-flaws-online-dating-sites
(Originally published in a slightly different form as: Smith, S. (2012). Online dating tips. [Radio broadcast episode]. Family Album Radio. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida.)
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