FolioStart free

Sociology · Literature

Research papers on Online dating

Recent and highly-cited academic work on online dating, gathered from Semantic Scholar, CrossRef and OpenAlex.

Search all 200M+ papers on this topic, free →Or track new online dating papers automatically as they publish

  1. Online Dating and Problematic Use: A Systematic Review

    Gabriel Bonilla-Zorita, Mark Damian Griffiths, Daria Joanna Kuss · 2020 · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · 111 citations

    Abstract Despite the constant growth in the use of online dating sites and mobile dating applications, research examining potential problematic use of online dating has remained scarce. Previous research has obviated problematic use of online dating in favour of users’ personality correlates and scams through online dating services. A systematic review was carried out using PsycINFO and Web of Science databases to gather previous findings that address potential problematic use of online dating by (i) identifying use and motivations, (ii) assessing users’ personality correlates, (iii) outlining negative correlates of use, (iv) examining sexual and impulsive behaviour, (v) exploring substance

    Save this paper

  2. Swipe-based dating applications use and its association with mental health outcomes: a cross-sectional study

    Nicol Holtzhausen, Keersten Fitzgerald, Ishaan Thakur, et al. · 2020 · BMC Psychology · 108 citations

    BACKGROUND: Swipe-Based Dating Applications (SBDAs) function similarly to other social media and online dating platforms but have the unique feature of "swiping" the screen to either like or dislike another user's profile. There is a lack of research into the relationship between SBDAs and mental health outcomes. The aim of this study was to study whether adult SBDA users report higher levels of psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and lower self-esteem, compared to people who do not use SBDAs. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 437 participants. Mental health (MH) outcomes included the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-2 scale,

    Save this paper

  3. Relationship experiences of transgender and non-binary adults: Exploring dating goals, relationship structures, minority stress, sexual fetishization, and relationship victimization

    Jazmine Perez, C. Pepping · 2024 · International Journal of Transgender Health · 22 citations

    Abstract Objective Here we investigate the relationship experiences of TNB individuals, with a particular focus on (1) relationship status and structure; (2) dating motivations and dating app use; (3) minority stress in relational contexts, including rates and experiences of fetishization, and minority stress-related difficulties in relationship formation and maintenance; (4) rates of relationship violence, victimization, and online harassment; and (5) relationship outcomes, namely sexual and relationship satisfaction. Method 316 TNB adults (M age = 26.84 years, SD = 7.47) completed a survey to assess their relationship experiences. Results Just over half the sample was in a romantic relatio

    Save this paper

  4. Exploring online dating and customer relationship management

    Alan D. Smith · 2005 · Online Information Review · 22 citations

    Purpose: To explore and add insight to the online‐dating services phenomena which is the next product and beneficiary of the internet revolution that offers customers a convenient and affordable alternate to traditional methods of dating. Design/methodology/approach: Empirically investigated through conceptual models and statistical methods was the value proposition of online matchmaking services, which boils down to the ability to provide appropriate matches through successfully business‐to‐customer (B2C) customer service enhanced by the web and based on sound customer relations management practices. Findings: The differentiation of the marketplace includes unique ways to collect user‐based

    Save this paper

  5. Flirting, Cheating, Dating, and Mating in a Virtual World

    Julie M. Albright, Eddie Simmens · 2013 · Oxford University Press eBooks · 17 citations

    Abstract Early theorists in the field of computer-mediated communication posited it would be difficult, if not impossible, to form interpersonal relationships over computer networks because of the lack of physical proximity of communicators. Despite these dire predictions, online dating has flourished, recently becoming the third most common way that people met their spouses in both the United States and Europe, and it continues to grow in developing nations like China and India. The following chapter surveys the extant research on the demographics, issues, and outcomes surrounding online matchmaking and relationship formation, beginning with an historical overview of the technological devel

    Save this paper

  6. Online Dating Is Shifting Educational Inequalities in Marriage Formation in Germany

    Gina Potarca · 2021 · Demography · 17 citations

    Digital technologies govern a large part of our social lives, including the pursuit of a romantic partner. Despite recent inquiries into the social consequences of meeting online, what remains unclear is how the link between education and union formation varies in online versus offline meeting contexts, particularly on the backdrop of growing educational gaps in marriage. Using 2008–2019 pairfam data from Germany (N = 3,561), this study ran a series of Fine-Gray competing risks models to assess how online dating shapes the transition to marriage for partnered adults with nontertiary and tertiary education. Results reveal that irrespective of education, men in online-formed couples had greate

    Save this paper

  7. Online Dating and Mental Health among Young Sexual Minority Black Men: Is Ethnic Identity Protective in the Face of Sexual Racism?

    Ryan M. Wade, Matthew M Pear · 2022 · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 16 citations

    Racialized Sexual Discrimination (RSD), also known as ‘sexual racism,’ is pervasive within online dating venues. RSD is associated with poor mental health outcomes among young sexual minority Black men (YSMBM), and there is limited research on factors that may mitigate this association. Ethnic identity has been identified as a potential protective factor for racial/ethnic minorities who encounter racialized stressors, though some evidence suggests that ethnic identity may also intensify the negative effects of racial discrimination. Using data from a cross-sectional web-survey of YSMBM (n = 690), a series of linear regression models were estimated to examine the moderating effect of ethnic i

    Save this paper

  9. From Assortative to Ashortative Coupling: Men's Height, Height Heterogamy, and Relationship Dynamics in the United States

    A. Weitzman, D. Conley · 2014 · National Bureau of Economic Research · 13 citations

    Studies of online dating suggest that physical attraction is a key factor in early relationship formation, but say little about the role of attractiveness in longer-term relationships. Meanwhile, assortative coupling and exchange models widely employed in demographic research overlook the powerful sorting function of initial and sustained physical attraction. This article observes the effects of one physical characteristic of men--height--on various relationship outcomes in longer-term relationships, including spouses' attributes, marriage entry and stability, and the division of household labor. Drawing on two different cohorts from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the authors show that

    Save this paper

  10. Disruption or reproduction? Nativity, gender and online dating in Canada

    Yue Qian · 2021 · Internet Research · 11 citations

    Purpose The spread of the Internet has transformed the dating landscape. Given the increasing popularity of online dating and rising immigration to Canada, this study takes an intersectional lens to examine nativity and gender differentials in heterosexual online dating. Design/methodology/approach In 2018, a random-digit-dial telephone survey was conducted in Canada. Logistic regression models were used to analyze original data from this survey (N = 1,373). Findings Results show that immigrants are more likely than native-born people to have used online dating in Canada, possibly because international relocation makes it more difficult for immigrants to meet romantic partners in other ways.

    Save this paper

  11. Algorithm awareness in online dating: associations with mate-searching difficulty and future expectancies among U.S. online daters

    Jun-Wen M. Hu, Emily S. Zhan · 2024 · Behaviour & Information Technology · 10 citations

    ABSTRACT Prior research has produced contradictory findings regarding online daters’ potential to navigate the algorithmic systems to find compatible matches. Drawing upon a structuration algorithm media effects model, we examine whether online daters with a higher level of algorithm awareness experience less online mate-searching difficulty and report more optimism and hope after using online dating services. Analysing data from a national representative sample of American online daters (N = 871), we found that, in general, algorithm awareness was negatively related to mate-searching difficulty, which was negatively related to optimism but not hope. In addition, the relationship between alg

    Save this paper

  13. Types of Male Adolescent Violence Against Women in Three Contexts: Dating Violence Offline, Dating Violence Online, and Sexual Harassment Online Outside a Relationship

    María José Díaz-Aguado, Rosario Martínez-Arias · 2022 · Frontiers in Psychology · 7 citations

    There has been little investigation of male adolescent violence against women as acknowledged by boys themselves, and even less on such violence in different contexts with comparative studies of behavior between those who perpetrate this violence and the population at large. This study used cluster analysis to establish a male adolescent typology based on boys’ self-reporting of violence against women in three contexts. The participants were 3,132 Spanish teenage boys aged 14–18 with experience of relationships with girls. Three discrete, identifiable types were obtained: the first group (69.8%), ofnon-violentboys; the second group (26%), more involved insexual harassment onlineoutside a rel

    Save this paper

  14. Online dating technology effects on interpersonal relationships

    Anabel Homnack · 2015 · Scholar Commons (Santa Clara University) · 6 citations

    The trend of online dating has been around since the emergence of the Internet. In the generation before the online era, people would meet face-to-face in cafes, on streets or at bars or even on airplanes. People make initial contact based on a number of cues and preferences, getting to know one another in person. Today these coincidental or so to say "meant to be" moments seem to be non-existent. Why have they become such a rarity? Is it because we know that there is an easy way out? What will it take for people to be as straightforward and confident in reality as they are behind the safety of their screens? It feels as though time spent with people in person has became a so to say 'hot com

    Save this paper

  15. Listening and responsiveness in getting-acquainted processes.

    S. Sprecher · 2023 · Current opinion in psychology · 4 citations

    Listening and being responsive to another's turns at disclosure are essential processes that occur at all stages of a relationship, including and perhaps particularly at the formation stage. This article discusses research on the role of responsiveness and listening in contributing to positive outcomes from getting-acquainted interactions. Integral to listening and responsiveness in the getting-acquainted process is asking questions, which is also discussed in this article. Because getting-acquainted interactions can occur in different communication modalities and also with artificial intelligence (AI), variation in the degree to which listening and responsiveness occur as a function of the

    Save this paper

  16. Dating across and hooking 'up': Status and relationship formation at an elite liberal arts university

    K. Kilanski, David McClendon · 2017 · Demographic Research · 4 citations

    BACKGROUND Demographic research on assortative mating underplays the role of social status in shaping partnering behavior, yet qualitative research suggests social status is critical in shaping partner desirability and structuring opportunities for partners to meet. OBJECTIVE This study investigates how social status of sororities and fraternities shapes relationship formation between women and men on a college campus. METHODS We draw on data from an online survey of sorority women at an elite liberal arts university about their romantic and sexual lives. RESULTS While status homophily is the dominant pattern in romantic relationships (dating ‘across’), sorority women up and down the status

    Save this paper

  17. Intimacy in the App Age

    A. Rochadiat, S. Tong, E. F. Corriero · 2020 · 3 citations

    The increasingly connected world calls into question how the mobile technology that is relied on for so many daily tasks also transforms how people meet romantic partners, interact with them, and decide whether to establish or forgo relationships. This chapter explores how romantic relationship processes and outcomes are simultaneously altered, supported, and facilitated by applications native to mobile devices. The authors begin with a description of mobile dating, highlighting the features and affordances characteristic to mobile dating applications, as opposed to online dating. They then examine how individuals use mobile communication technology in the relational initiation phase: (1) go

    Save this paper

  18. Virtual speed dating: Utilizing online‐meeting platforms to study initial attraction and relationship formation

    Juliana E. French, Lindsay J. Bolton, Andrea L. Meltzer · 2024 · Personal Relationships · 3 citations

    There is still much to learn about attraction and relationship formation. Here, we introduce an innovative method that utilizes modern technology to permit large‐scale, observational study of dyadic behavior that may yield new empirical insights into how people choose partners and form relationships: virtual speed dating. In doing so, we provide a methodological overview of a recent virtual speed‐dating study that we conducted, and we provide guidance for other scholars who wish to conduct such a study. Not only does virtual speed dating permit a feasible way to conduct large‐scale speed‐dating research and observe dyadic behavior during initial meeting and dating interactions, but it can be

    Save this paper

  19. Does Online Dating Challenge Gendered Divisions of Household Labor?

    Gina Potarca, Jennifer L. Hook · 2023 · Social Forces · 3 citations

    Abstract:Online dating has modified how people find and select partners. In addition to outcomes already observed (e.g., exogamy), we argue that by subverting normative dating scripts, online courtship practices may set the course for partnerships that display more egalitarian divisions of routine household labor. This may be particularly true for the married and for lower-educated women, who generally report the least egalitarian allocation of domestic work. Furthermore, we posit that the relationship between meeting context and household labor will be partially explained by the selectivity of those who search for partners online but also by mechanisms specific to online dating that allow f

    Save this paper

  20. The efficiency paradox: A temporal lens into online dating among Chinese immigrants in Canada

    Manlin Cai, Yue Qian, Yang Hu · 2025 · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · 2 citations

    Online dating is widely assumed to enhance the overall efficiency of relationship formation through expanding the pool of potential partners. Yet little is known about how this presumed efficiency plays out beyond the initial search stage. Although temporal compression (i.e., saving time) is considered central to the notion of efficiency, individuals’ lived realities of time and efficiency in online dating remain understudied. Adopting a grounded theory approach to analyzing 31 in-depth interviews with heterosexual Chinese immigrant online daters in Canada, we reveal how time-related expectations and experiences shaped their perceptions of (in)efficiency throughout different stages of online

    Save this paper

  21. Automatic identification of writers’ intentions: Comparing different methods for predicting relationship goals in online dating profile texts

    C. van der Lee, Tess van der Zanden, E. Krahmer, et al. · 2019 · 2 citations

    Psychologically motivated, lexicon-based text analysis methods such as LIWC (Pennebaker et al., 2015) have been criticized by computational linguists for their lack of adaptability, but they have not often been systematically compared with either human evaluations or machine learning approaches. The goal of the current study was to assess the effectiveness and predictive ability of LIWC on a relationship goal classification task. In this paper, we compared the outcomes of (1) LIWC, (2) machine learning, and (3) a human baseline. A newly collected corpus of online dating profile texts (a genre not explored before in the ACL anthology) was used, accompanied by the profile writers’ self-selecte

    Save this paper

  22. Dating-Apps im intersubjektiven Geschehen: Tinder, Grindr und Co. als Optionen der Beziehungsinitiierung

    Matthias Völcker, Sascha Landeck, Katharina Poltze, et al. · 2020 · Zeitschrift für Qualitative Forschung · 2 citations

    Wir beschäftigen uns in diesem Aufsatz mit Phänomenen netzgängiger Beziehungsinitiierung und der Relevanz von Dating-Apps im intersubjektiven Geschehen. Neben der skizzenhaften Aufarbeitung eines komplexen und ambivalenten Forschungsstandes stellen wir die Ergebnisse einer Interviewstudie mit Nutzer*innen solcher Apps vor. In der Auswertung des empirischen Materials, welches wir mithilfe der Grounded-Theory-Methodologie (GTM) realisierten, eröffnen wir Einblicke in technologisch vermittelte kommunikative Prozesse und arbeiten die (inter-)subjektive(n) Bedeutsamkeit(en) solcher Apps heraus.

    Save this paper

  23. Dating Application Use and Its Relationship with Mental Health Outcomes Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Urban Areas of Thailand: A Nationwide Online Cross-Sectional Survey

    Sarawut Nasahwan, Jadsada Kunno, Parichat Ong-artborirak · 2025 · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 1 citations

    Dating applications (DAs) are widely used to establish social and sexual connections among men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly in urban areas. In this study, we aimed to examine the associations between DA use and mental health among Thai MSM. An online cross-sectional survey was completed by 442 MSM residing in Bangkok and urban municipalities across all regions of Thailand. Psychological distress (PD) and probable depression were assessed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), respectively. Of the participants, 62.7% were current users, with 33.2% experiencing PD and 33.9% having depression. A logistic regression analysis sho

    Save this paper

  24. Dating and online partnership formation

    Gina Potârcă · 2025 · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 1 citations

    This chapter provides an overview of research on the patterns and implications of online dating for partnership formation. Digital tools for partner selection such as dating websites, apps, and social networks have transformed how people meet, reducing the importance of geographical proximity and expanding opportunities to connect with others beyond their immediate environment. In the last decade, researchers have explored how these changes affect partnering patterns. The chapter highlights two main strands of (mostly) quantitative research inspired by the advent of online dating. The first wave of studies used digital trace data from dating profiles and contact records to examine early-stag

    Save this paper

Write your paper with these sources

Folio is the integrity-first research workspace: search 200M+ papers, save sources, and write with citations that format themselves. Free for students and researchers.

Start writing free →