Online dating's long-term effects on marital outcomes explored in recent study

Marriages originating from online dating platforms differ in satisfaction and stability compared to those formed through traditional offline means, according to a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior. The findings suggest that while online dating leads to more diverse marriages, it also brings unique challenges affecting the quality of these relationships.

With online dating becoming a common avenue for seeking partners, researchers sought to understand its long-term implications on relationships, particularly marriages. Earlier research suggested that marriages beginning online might be more satisfying and stable. However, these findings were primarily focused on the early stages of relationships. The current study aimed to fill the gap in understanding the effects of online dating on marital satisfaction and stability over time.

“Online dating has become the single most common way that couples meet in the United States. Yet, we know surprisingly little about how couples who meet in online dating fare in the long run. This made us curious about online dating’s long-term implications for relationships,” explained study author Liesel Sharabi, an associate professor and director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at Arizona State University.

For their study, the researchers gathered a sample of 923 U.S. adults who were married. These individuals were either introduced to their spouse through an online dating site or app or met in conventional offline venues like through friends, work, or college. The sample was carefully chosen to mirror U.S. demographics in terms of age, race, and gender, enhancing the representativeness of the findings. Participants were divided almost equally between those who met their spouse online and offline.

The researchers employed various measures to gauge different aspects of the participants’ relationships. They used scales to assess societal marginalization (how society views their relationship based on how they met), network approval (support from friends and family), geographic distance (physical distance between partners when they first met), and disclosure (the extent of sharing intimate information).

The primary outcomes of interest were overall marital satisfaction (e.g., “How well does your spouse meet your needs?” and “In general, how satisfied are you with your marriage?”) and marital stability (e.g., “Have you or your spouse every seriously suggested the idea of divorce?” and “Has the thought of getting a divorce or separation crossed your mind in the past?”).

The researchers found that individuals who met their spouses online were generally younger and had more dating experience prior to marriage than those who met offline. Interestingly, online-origin marriages were found to be more recent and more likely to be same-sex or interracial.

However, these online-origin marriages reported lower levels of satisfaction and stability compared to offline-origin marriages. This difference was attributed to factors such as societal marginalization and less network approval, which were more prevalent in online-origin relationships.

Another key discoveries was that online daters faced more geographic distance initially, leading to increased disclosure between partners. While this greater openness led to higher satisfaction, it paradoxically correlated with lower stability in the marriage. This suggests that while online dating expands the dating pool and leads to more diverse marriages, it also introduces unique challenges that can impact the long-term quality of these relationships.

But those in online-origin marriages still rated their marital satisfaction and stability higher than the neutral point on the scales used in the study, indicating that despite the challenges and potential negative perceptions associated with online dating, these relationships still tend to be positively viewed by those involved in them.

“In this study, we found that people who met their spouse in online dating were younger, had more dating experience, and were more likely to be in a same-sex or an interracial marriage than those who met offline,” Sharabi told PsyPost. “What’s more, we also found evidence of an online dating effect, with online daters reporting less satisfying and stable marriages than offline daters.”

“That’s not so say that their marriages were bad – they were still relatively high in quality, on average. But our findings show there’s something different about the marriages that are emerging from online dating compared to those that get their start offline.”

Despite its insightful findings, the study is not without limitations. The use of cross-sectional data means that the researchers could only capture a snapshot in time, limiting their ability to make causal claims about the relationships. Additionally, the study relied on participants’ ability to accurately recall and report their early relationship experiences, which could be subject to memory biases. The researchers acknowledge these limitations and suggest the need for future studies to follow couples over a more extended period, from courtship through marriage, to better understand the dynamics at play.

“There’s still the question of why people who meet their spouse in online dating report different outcomes than those who meet offline,” Sharabi said. “We identified one reason, which is the stigma surrounding online dating, but there could be other explanations as well. For instance, we know people benefit from having more options in online dating, but over time that’s something that may also threaten the long-term stability of relationships by making them feel more disposable.”

The study, “The online dating effect: Where a couple meets predicts the quality of their marriage“, was authored by Liesel L. Sharabi and Elizabeth Dorrance-Hall.