Why Does Online Dating Lead To Better Marriages?

A recent Academic study has found that Online Dating actually leads to more successful marriages. Higher rates of separation and divorce occurred between couples who’d met initially offline. But why is this so?

According to the research – conducted by the University of Chicago involving over 19’000 respondents who’d married between 2005-2012 – a massive 35% met their partners online. Even more staggering is a higher percentage reporting marriage breakups of 8% involving couples who’d met each other in the traditional way compared to a lower 6% of breakups who’d met after online dating. Why should Online dating lead to a higher level of satisfying marriages?

John Cacioppo, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, states that ‘the internet may be altering the dynamics and outcomes of marriage itself.’ His study is now published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (*See link below for further details)

Possible reasons put forward by John, and his co-authors, establish that the benefits of Online Dating may derive from selectivity and the focused nature of dating singles- who may have a greater level of opportunity on their dating platforms than people who look for prospective partners in bars, clubs and other meeting venues. Honesty is another possible factor that may assist in the outcome of successful marriages as the vast majority of people who use Online Dating tend to tell the truth, as previous studies have indicated.

Furthermore, Professor Cacioppo suggests that people who meet online are maybe different in personality and have a higher motivation towards sustaining a long-term marital relationship. He adds that there might be ‘another factor’.

Yet, this other factor is not established by the study. But it seems to be the overall conclusion that marriages benefit both from the selectivity process and focused nature of Online Dating. These two factors seem to make people more successful at choosing the right partner for a successful marriage.

So it’s selectivity and focus.

One other possible factor – put forward by the author of this article – is that, due to enhanced online communication, singles are now much more informed about their prospective partners before their actual dates. This isn’t necessarily so in the offline way without the inclusion of the online factor. In the more traditional manner, people tend to use their dates to find out as much information as they can about their potential partner. This has to be done in the short time period of the actual date or subsequent dates. Without the burden of this information gathering process, people can relax more and focus more intently on important communication issues such as body language. This may lead to more successful choices- offline.

What do you think?

* News Article:
http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/06/03/meeting-online-leads-happier-more-enduring-marriages/