If you met your significant other online, is your relationship doomed to fail? Or does it actually make your relationship more successful?
These are questions we absolutely need the answers to, especially since we are living in the era of online dating, where probably around half the couples we see had their first interactions through a screen.
Since online dating has been growing in popularity, researchers are becoming curious about the long-term impacts of online dating on relationships. A new study is offering details regarding the difference in success between relationships that start through online dating and those that begin offline.
“Research shows that meeting a partner online is becoming more and more common than traditional methods like through friends or family,” said Junwen Hu, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.
“My collaborators and I often heard my peers struggle to find meaningful relationships online, yet I also kept hearing stories of people who met online and ended up happily married. This contrast made us curious whether online dating really helps people build better relationships.”
The study authors used data from the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Survey, which was conducted in 2019. The survey included a sample of 4,860 adults in the United States. The researchers selected participants who were married or in committed romantic relationships.
They narrowed the participants down even further to those who met their partners through online dating or offline methods. So, they ended up with a total of 2,787 individuals.
Most of the participants were between 30 and 64 years old and identified as white and straight. Most had also been in their relationships for over five years.
The findings showed that for married couples, meeting through online dating was only linked to lower relationship success if they did not share or discuss their relationship on social media.
C Haas/peopleimages.com – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
For married couples who discussed their relationship experiences online, there was no significant difference in success between online and offline couples.
For non-married couples, the pattern was different. There was a positive link between meeting through online dating and relationship success among those who talked about their relationship online.
There was no significant difference in success between those who met online or offline among non-married couples.
Hu and colleagues were surprised that online dating appeared to have a more negative impact on marriages than non-marital relationships. They had expected people to be more selective in marriage.
They concluded that in non-marital relationships, “involving one’s social network (like friends) in the relationship process, such as seeking advice or sharing updates, may boost success in relationships that start online.”
Overall, the findings demonstrate the impacts of online dating on relationship success and emphasize the role that social media plays.
The study was published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking.
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