The Psychology of Internet Dating

You’re single, perhaps painfully so. The large pool of potential partners that school or university provided is starting to seem like it was a lifetime ago. You’ve moved to an unfamiliar city for work or to get away from the past. You stick to your tried and trusted old friends and there seems little chance of meeting new people. Internet dating may look like a good option, a last hope even, of meeting some new people.

Encouraging research from the University of Bath suggests that internet dating might be more than a passing fad. A new survey asked 229 internet daters about their experiences of internet dating. What relationships had they had online? How long did they last? Was it all a complete waste of time and money? The results were perhaps surprisingly upbeat. 94% or people who had built up a significant online relationship went on to meet up more than once in real life.

“The more the couple engaged in simultaneous online chat before meeting rather than simply e-mailing one another, the more they were found to depend on one another emotionally and the more they understood one another.”

About the author

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology.

He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book “Making Habits, Breaking Habits” (Da Capo, 2003) and several ebooks.

SOURCE: PSYBLOG