Recommended Reading - INTERNET DATING SCIENCE

Recommended Reading

Abstract: Online personal advertisements have shed their stigma as matchmakers for the awkward to claim a prominent role in the social lives of millions of people. Web sites for online dating allow users to post lengthy personal ads, including text and photos; search the database of users for potential romantic partners; and contact other users through a private messaging system.

This work begins with psychological and sociological perspectives on online dating and discusses the various types of online dating Web sites. Next, it presents an analysis of user behavior on one site in particular, which has more than 57,000 active users from the United States and Canada. A demographic description of the population is given, and then 250,000 messages exchanged by the active users over an eight-month period are analyzed. An examination of which characteristics are "bounding" finds that life course attributes such as marital status and whether one wants children are most likely to be the same across the two users in a dyadic interaction. To understand which characteristics are important to users in deciding whom to contact, regression models show the relative strength of a variety of attributes in predicting how many messages a user with those attributes will receive. By far the strongest predictor of messages received is the number of messages sent. For men, age, educational level, and self-rated physical attractiveness are the next most important qualities. For women, they are not being overweight, self-rated physical attractiveness, and having a photo. Finally, a discussion of the design implications of these findings and other design issues follow the results.

  • A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION:
    FACTORS AFFECTING THE LONGEVITY OF ONLINE DATING RELATIONSHIPS
    Authors: Lindsay Shaw Taylor, Andrew T. Fiore, G. A. Mendelsohn, and Coye Cheshire
    Full text available here

Abstract: This research explored the transition of romantic relationships from meeting online to the first face-to-face date. It is inevitable that impressions of a partner will change to some degree, but how much, and with what consequences? One hundred and fifty users of a popular online dating site participated in the study. They recalled a person whom they had met through the site, reporting their impressions of their partners from both before and after the first face-to-face meeting. We expected, based on prior research demonstrating the importance of physical attractiveness in romantic attraction both on- and offline, that changes in beliefs about partners’ physical appeal would be the most powerful predictor of relationship longevity. However, they were unrelated to relationship success. Across all the dimensions we examined, impressions were in fact relatively stable, but when respondents said they knew their partners better after meeting face-to-face, relationships lasted longer.

  • THE ROLE OF LINGUISTIC PROPERTIES IN ONLINE DATING COMMUNICATION – A LARGE-SCALE STUDY OF CONTACT INITIATION MESSAGES
    Authors: Valentin Schöndienst and Linh Dang-Xuan
    Full text available here

Abstract: For people who look for a partner, online dating largely increases the pool of potential mates. At the same time, users of online dating platforms have to cope with a large number of approaches and, therefore, need to choose selectively who they decide to engage in a conversation with. Especially, since the costs of rejection are low on online dating platforms, it is a common strategy to spam others with superficial approaches. With this in mind, and in the absence of nonverbal cues, targets base their decision of whether or not to respond to a message on (a) their impression of the sender’s pictures, and (b) cues which they extract from the content of the message. The purpose of this study is to hypothesize on which linguistic properties of a message in computer-mediated communication may signal various qualities of its sender, to predict how those properties determine a target’s decision of whether to respond or to ignore an initial message. Employing the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text analysis, relevant variables are operationalized from a corpus of 167,276 initial messages of an online dating platform. Regression analysis is performed in order to test the hypotheses. Results are discussed with respect to design implications for online dating platforms.

  • COMPARING NARRATIVES OF PERSONAL AND PREFFERED PARTNER CHARACTERISTICS IN ONLINE DATING ADVERTISEMENTS
    Authors: Elizabeth M. Morgan, Tamara C. Richards, Emily M. VanNess
    Full text available here

Abstract: This study explored online personal ads of 294 heterosexual and homosexual men and women in the United States through a qualitative analysis and comparison of participant-generated “personal” and “preferred partner” narratives. Nine characteristics were identified and combined into three overarching categories: physical, lifestyle, and personality characteristics. These three personal and preferred partner characteristics were examined for difference by gender, sexual orientation, age and desired relationship type of the advertisers. Main effects emerged for all four predictors, most notably for age and desired relationship type. Additionally, this study explored the possibility that personal and preferred partner narratives contained similar constellations of characteristics, finding significant correlations on all three variables, lending support for the matching hypothesis in dating partner characteristics.

  • LEARNING USER PREFERENCES IN ONLINE DATING
    Authors: Luis Pizzato, Thomas Chung, Tomasz Rej, Irena Koprinska, Kalina Yacef, and Judy Kay
    Full text available here

Abstract: Online dating presents rich source of information for preference learning. Due to the desire to find the right partner, users are willing to provide very specific details about themselves and about the people they are looking for. The user can describe his/her ideal partner by specifying values for a set of predefined attributes. This explicit preference model is quite rigid and may not reflext reality, as users actions are often contrary to their stated preferences. In this respect learning implicit user preferences from the users' past contact history may be a more successful approach for building user preference models for use in recommender systems. In this study, we analyse the differences between the implicit and explicit preferences and how they can complement each other to form the basis for a recommender system for online dating.

  • WHO’S RIGHT AND WHO WRITES:
    PEOPLE, PROFILES, CONTACTS, AND REPLIES IN ONLINE DATING
    Authors: Andrew T. Fiore, Lindsay Shaw Taylor, Xiaomeng Zhong, G.A. Mendelsohn, and Coye Cheshire
    Full text available here

Abstract: In this analysis of profiles and messaging behavior on a major online dating service, we find that, consistent with predictions of evolutionary psychology, women as compared to men state more restrictive preferences for their ideal date. Furthermore, women contact and reply to others more selectively than men. Additionally, we identify connections among messaging behavior, textual selfdescriptions n dating profiles, and relationshiprelevant traits such as neuroticism.

  • IMPACT OF INTERNET ON AFRICAN FEMALE SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR: ISSUES RAISED BY ONLINE DATING
    Author: Dr Johnson I. Agbinya

Abstract: Information technology has potential to raise the profile and standards of living of the average human being. Although the impact of information technology (ICT) can be felt easily by most people measuring and quantifying it is harder. This paper measures the impact of Internet on African female sexuality in the context of usage of online dating sites and the demographic differences between the young and older generation. The paper also reports on the changing attitudes of the average African female locally and in the Diasporas. We measured the participation of African female in an online dating site. One of the three sites is dedicated to dating black men and women and the other two are mixed. The level of participation per age is measured and the attitudes manifested in this paper by female participants were recorded based on dating arrangements between the experimenters and individuals met online. The results indicate that online dating is prevalent among African educated females with changing attitudes. It indicates willingness to first approach, first request dates and also seek permanent relationships. Results also show that online dating has potential to seduce and also reduce the value attached to partners. It also shows that for both sexes many are willing to engage in web sex usually within hours of meeting the person online. It also shows that dating sites are being used legally to find partners and also illegally to solicit Internet crimes such as advance fee fraud. The study reveals that there are no policy guidelines or regulation of Internet dating sites by any African country. There is no parental control.

  • MEETING OPPORTUNITIES AND PARTNER SELECTION: A FIELD STUDY
    Authors: Michele Belot, Marco Francesconi

Abstract: Much empirical evidence shows that female and male partners look alike along a variety of attributes. It is however unclear how this positive sorting comes about, because marriage is an equilibrium outcome arising from a process that entails searching, meeting and choosing one another, a process that is usually a black box to social researchers. This study exploits unique —eld data from a large speed dating agency to shed light on the forces driving choices at the earliest stage of a relationship | after a —rst meeting. We —nd that both women and men value physical attributes, such as age and weight, and that choices are assortative along age, height, and education. However, we —nd that meeting opportunities play a dominant role in determining dating proposals. These results have important implications for our understanding of the degree of social openness and mobility.

  • READING ROMANCE: THE IMPACT FACEBOOK RITUALS CAN HAVE ON A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP
    Author: Greg Bowe
    Full text available here

Abstract: Despite the fact that research has identified intimate relationships as being an important factor in how people look to present themselves on social networking sites, there still remains a lack of research in this domain. By comparing trends inside the rituals of the relationship status, public displays of affection and photographs on Facebook this paper examines how they can impact a relationship in the offline world by discussing the extent to which the design and features of the site can impact the emotional repertoire of its users. Results highlighted that the website has the potential to provide a new focus and channel for a person to depict where their relationship is going, feeling rules can be attached to certain rituals on the website. By focusing on the relationship status option and public displays of affection, it was emphasized that these rituals accentuate themes of possession and territory and can be used to configure a couple’s superiority. The discussion on photographs illustrated how the     website can bring problems and jealousy to the relationship, particularly when the ‘ex-partner’ was taken into account.

Abstract: Online dating systems play a prominent role in the social lives of millions of their users, but little research has considered now users perceive one another through their personal profiles. We examined how users perceive attractiveness in online dating profiles, which provide their first exposure to a potential partner. Participants rated whole profiles and profile components on such qualities as how attractive, extraverted, and genuine and trustworthy they appeared. As past research in the psychology of atrraction would suggest, the attractiveness and other qualities of the photograph were the strongest predistors of whole profile attractiveness, but they were not alone: the free-text component also played an important role in predicting overall acttractiveness. In turn, numerous other qualities predicted the attractiveness ratings of photos and free-text components, albeit in different ways for men and women. The fixed-choice elements of a profile, however, were unrelated to attractiveness.

  • FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES GOOGLE: AN INVESTIGATION OF UNCERTAINTY. REDUCTION STRATEGIES AND SELF-DISCLOSURE IN ONLINE DATING
    Authors: Jennifer L. Gibbs, Nicole B. Ellison and Chih-Hui Lai

Abstract: This study investigates relationships between privacy concerns, uncertainty reduction behaviors, and self-disclosure among online dating participants, drawing on uncertainty reduction theory and the warranting principle. The authors propose a conceptual model integrating privacy concerns, self-efficacy, and Internet experience with uncertainty reduction strategies and amount of self-disclosure and then test this model on a nation-wide sample of online dating participants (N = 562). The study findings confirm that the frequency of use of uncertainty reduction strategies is predicted by three sets of online dating concerns—personal security, misrepresentation, and recognition—as well as selfefficacy in online dating. Furthermore, the frequency of uncertainty reduction strategies mediates the relationship between these variables and amount of self-disclosure with potential online dating partners. The authors explore the theoretical implications of these findings for our understanding of uncertainty reduction, warranting, and self-disclosure processes in online contexts.

  • AN EXAMINATION OF LANGUAGE USE IN ONLINE DATING PROFILES
    Authors: Meenakshi Nagarajan, Marti A. Hearst
    Full text available here

Abstract: This paper contributes to the study of self-presentation in online dating systems by performing a factor analysis on the text portions of online pro?les. Findings include a similarity in the overall factor structures between male and female pro?les, including use of tentative words by men. Contrasts between sexes were also found in a cluster analysis of the pro?les using their factor scores. Finally, we also found similarities in frequent words used by the gender groups.

  • HOMOPHILY IN ONLINE DATING:
    WHEN DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE LIKE YOURSELF?
    Authors: Andrew T. Fiore and Judith S. Donath

Abstract: Psychologists have found that actual and perceived similarity between potential romantic partners in demographics, attitudes, values, and attractiveness correlate positively with attraction and, later, relationship satisfaction. Online dating systems provide a new way for users to identify and communicate with potential partners, but the information they provide differs dramatically from what a person might glean from face-to-face interaction. An analysis of dyadic interactions of approximately 65,000 heterosexual users of an online dating system in the U.S. showed that, despite these differences, users of the system sought people like them much more often than chance would predict, just as in the offline world. The users’ preferences were most strongly sameseeking for attributes related to the life course, like marital history and whether one wants children, but they also demonstrated significant homophily in self-reported physical build, physical attractiveness, and smoking habits.

Abstract: We studied initial and long-term outcomes of speed-dating over a period of 1 year in a community sample involving 382 participants aged 18–54 years. They were followed from their initial choices of dating partners up to later mating (sexual intercourse) and relating (romantic relationship). Using Social Relations Model analyses, we examined evolutionarily informed hypotheses on both individual and dyadic effects of participants’ physical characteristics, personality, education and income on their dating, mating and relating. Both men and women based their choices mainly on the dating partners’ physical attractiveness, and women additionally on men’s sociosexuality, openness to experience, shyness, education and income. Choosiness increased with age in men, decreased with age in women and was positively related to popularity among the other sex, but mainly for men. Partner similarity had only weak effects on dating success. The chance for mating with a speed-dating partner was 6%, and was increased by men’s short-term mating interest; the chance for relating was 4%, and was increased by women’s long-term mating interest.

  • CYBER-FLIRTING. PLAYING AT LOVE ON THE INTERNET
    Author: Monica Therese Whitty

Abstract: While there exists some research on offline flirting, there is currently little in the way of conceptual theory or empirical research on flirting in cyberspace. This paper attempts to help redress this balance. The paper initially presents a summary of the behaviour of offline flirting and particularly identifies what constitutes offline flirting signals. Given this background context, suggestions are made as to how we might better conceptualize online flirting. The prevailing wisdom has been that we should focus on the absence of the body in cyberspace. This view is challenged here. Instead, it is argued that researchers should re-orient their focus to how the body is reconstructed online. Winnicott’s notions of ‘potential space’ and ‘transitional objects’ are drawn upon in this paper to advance an argument that online flirting should be considered as a form of play. In making this argument, it is contended that online flirting has unique aspects in comparison to offline flirting. In particular, while realistic elements are present in online flirting, there is a blurring between what is reality and fantasy when one engages in flirtatious behaviour on the Internet.

Abstract: Knowing one’s mate value (mate-value accuracy) is an important element in reproductive success. We investigated within- and between-sex differences in this ability in a real-life speed-dating event. A total of 190 men and 192 women filled out a personality questionnaire and participated in speed-dating sessions. Immediately after each date, participants recorded who they would choose as mates and who they expected would choose them. In line with evolutionarily informed hypotheses, results indicated that sociosexually unrestricted men and more agreeable women showed greater mate-value accuracy than sociosexually restricted men and less agreeable women, respectively. These results have important implications for understanding mating behavior and perhaps the origin of sex differences in personality.

  • THE ROLE OF THE INTERNET IN RECONFIGURING MARRIAGES: A CROSS-INTERNATIONAL STUDY
    Authors: William H. Dutton, Ellen J. Helsper, Monica T. Whitty, Nai Li, J. Galen Buckwalter, Erina Lee
    Full text available here

Abstract: This study explores the role of the Internet in reconfiguring marriages, introducing couples that meet in person and later marry, through a set of online surveys of married couples in Britain, Australia, and Spain. The study found that a sizeable proportion of online married couples in each country first met their spouse online, usually through an online dating service, chat room or on instant messaging (IM). This was more the case for younger couples. Moreover, the study indicates that meeting online is likely to introduce people to others whom they would not be as likely to meet through other means. The Internet might well open people to more diversity in their choice of a partner, such as by introducing individuals with greater differences in age or education, but with more similar interests and values. These findings are preliminary, but suggestive of significant social trends and indirect implications of social networking in the digital age.

Abstract: Using the first nationally representative survey to focus on internet dating, we identify those “at risk” of using internet dating, i.e., one must have internet access and have been single in the past five years during the technology’s growth. We identify socio-demographic correlates of both these selective processes and estimate use of internet dating net of these processes. We find that socioeconomic and demographic factors have strong effects on the selective processes but weak effects on use of internet dating services once the sample is conditioned on these factors. Instead, for this “at risk” subpopulation, familiarity with the internet, actively looking for a partner, and knowing someone who has used internet dating are strong proximate determinants of internet dating.

  • MANAGING IMPRESSIONS ONLINE: SELF-PRESENTATION PROCESS IN THE ONLINE DATING ENVIRONMENT
    Authors: Nicole Ellison, Rebecca Heino, Jennifer Gibbs
    Full text available here

Abstract: This study investigates self-presentation strategies among online dating participants, exploring how participants manage their online presentation of self in order to accomplish the goal of finding a romantic partner. Thirty-four individuals active on a large online dating site participated in telephone interviews about their online dating experiences and perceptions. Qualitative data analysis suggests that participants attended to small cues online, mediated the tension between impression management pressures and the desire to present an authentic sense of self through tactics such as creating a profile that reflected their “ideal self,” and attempted to establish the veracity of their identity claims. This study provides empirical support for Social Information Processing theory in a naturalistic context while offering insight into the complicated way in which “honesty” is enacted online.

  • ME, MY SPOUSE AND THE INTERNET
    A GLOBAL SHIFT IN THE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF NETWORKED INDIVIDUALS: MEETING AND DATING ONLINE COMES OF AGE
    Authors: Bernie Hogan, Nai Li, William H. Dutton
    Link to review on Internet Dating Science

Abstract: This paper reports on an analysis of original data from a cross-national survey in 18 countries of couples and their social relationships. The survey focused on cohabiting couples, who have the Internet at home. Each member of each couple was asked how they met their partners, what dating strategies they used before they met, how they maintain their current relationships and social networks, and how these individuals use the Internet in everyday life and work. The survey was conducted online, using a professional pool of respondents to draw our samples. There is wide variety across the world and within nations, such as in approaches to online relationships, to friendships, and to the Internet. However, several general patterns are clear. First, slightly over a third of the sample has some experience with online dating, while 15 percent are currently in a relationship that started online. Beginning in 1997, coinciding with the rise ofWeb 2.0 technologies, online dating starts to gain prominence. This rise in prominence continues until 2009, when over 30 percent of Internet-enabled couples appear to have met through online dating. A similar growing prominence of the Internet is also occurring around the maintenance of relationships, and the development of social relations more generally. In these and other ways, it is clear that the Internet has become a new place to look for relationships, and that the Internet is important for strong as well as weak ties within social networks.

Abstract: Dating, the stage in American romantic relationships, is a popular theme in interpersonal communication research. This article claims that dating is a cultural construct and concept. The claim is supported by two means: by examining the perceptions of relationships, communication, and personhood that are embedded in American women‟s interviews, and by comparing these perceptions with Finnish women‟s interviews about relationship initiation. The cultural meanings of dating should be acknowledged when making generalizations and building theoretical constructs on romantic relationships, as well as in applying American research results in describing Finnish romantic relationships.

  • LOOKING FOR LOVE IN SO MANY PLACES:
    CHARACTERISTICS OF ONLINE DATERS AND SPEED DATERS
    Authors: Monica T. Whitty, Tom Buchanan
    Full text available here

Abstract: This study examined the characteristics of individuals who are more likely to engage in speed dating and online dating, and the types of people who are more likely to prefer these forms of dating. Older individuals and those who scored high on shyness were more likely to have tried online dating. Older individuals, those who scored high on shyness, and those who had tried online dating were more likely to consider using it in the future. Younger individuals were more likely to have tried speed dating. Those who had already tried speed dating were more likely to consider using it in the future. We argue here that online dating offers some advantages for shy individuals.

  • CONTEMPORARY METHODS OF SOCIAL INTRODUCTION:
    IS THE STIGMATISATION JUSTIFIED?
    Authors: Lisa M. Steffek, Timothy J. Loving
    Full text available here

Abstract: Historically, individuals in search of a romantic partner have expanded their pool of alternatives by meeting others through their personal social networks. In the last few decades, however, a growing singles population, coupled with advances in technology, has promoted the utilisation and modernization of contemporary marriage market intermediaries (MMIs), including online dating sites, social networking sites, and professional matchmaking services. Importantly, these contemporary MMIs depart from more normative methods for meeting others, making their use ripe for social stigmatization, as evidenced by myriad portrayals in the popular media. The purpose of the present research was to provide an empirical exploration of the validity of the layperson stigma towards users of contemporary MMIs by assessing the extent to which users and nonusers of these various services differ on key individual characteristics relevant to relationship initiation and progression. Specifically, we surveyed 96 individuals, all of whom were attending a singles‘ happy hour, and compared users and nonusers of contemporary MMIs on several important characteristics. Although users reported going on more dates and perceived greater attractiveness in others at the event, no differences were observed in personality (i.e., the Big 5) or adult attachment classification (i.e., secure vs. insecure). Altogether, our findings suggest that users of contemporary MMIs are not socially undesirable people (or at least any more undesirable than nonusers).

  • ENHACING MATE SELECTION THROUGH THE INTERNET:
    A COMPARISON OF RELATIONSHIP QUALITY BETWEEN MARRIAGES ARISING FROM AN ONLINE MATCHMAKING SYSTEM AND MARRIAGES ARISING FROM UNFETTERED SELECTION
    Authors: Steven R. Carter, J. Galen Buckwalter
    Full text available here

Abstract: The current work investigates the effects of a broadly adopted online matchmaking site on the nature and quality of married couples formed. Measures of personality, emotion, interests, values and marital adjustment were collected from a sample of married couples who had been introduced by an online matchmaking service, and from a sample of married couples who had met through unfettered choice. Results showed that couples introduced by the online matchmaking site were more similar, and that such similarity in general using the current measures was a strong predictor of marital adjustment in both online matched and comparison couples. Marriages resulting from the online matchmaking service were observed to have significantly higher scores for marital adjustment. We conclude that online matchmaking services based on predictive inference and proscribed selection can be observed to have a significant and meaningful impact on marital quality.

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Academic Rock Stars

  • Ariely, Dan
    Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University
  • Barak, Azy
    Professor of Psychology at the University in Haifa, Israel
  • Finkel, Eli J.
    Associate Professor, Social Psychology at Northwestern University
  • Frost, Jeana H.
    Research Scientist
  • Hitsch, Günter J.
    Professor of Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • McKenna, Katelyn Y.A.
    Senior Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
  • Norton, Michael I.
    Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
  • Rosenfeld, Michael J.
    Associate Professor, Department of Sociology at Stanford University

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