A study conducted in Canada revealed that individuals generally view those who use online dating methods more negatively than those who opt for offline dating methods. However, this perception shifts among individuals who have themselves used online dating. They tend to view fellow online dating service users more positively compared to those who have never used online dating. The research was published in Personal Relationships.
Online dating services offer a convenient and accessible means for individuals to connect with potential partners based on shared interests, preferences, and demographic factors. They often employ complex algorithms to suggest matches, increasing the likelihood of compatibility between users. Online dating services cater to a wide range of audiences, offering specialized platforms for different age groups, lifestyles, and dating goals, from casual encounters to long-term relationships. The use of these services particularly increased during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
However, in spite of their increasing use, past research suggests that people tend to perceive users of online dating services in negative terms. Studies report that people tend to view users of these services as unattractive, desperate or deviant individuals who are unable to find dates through more traditional means. Other studies suggest that they are viewed as deceitful opportunists willing to lie to find dates, as “sleazy” or just looking for short-term “hook-ups”.
In their new study, Trenton C. Johanis and his colleagues wanted to examine how daters who use online and offline/traditional methods for finding partners would be perceived by individuals who themselves had, or had not, used the Internet to find a partner. They expected that daters using online methods would generally be viewed more negatively than daters using offline methods. This view would be particularly strong among individuals who never used online dating methods themselves.
The study involved 214 MTurk workers, including 103 women, with an average age of 35 years, ranging from 19 to 66 years. The participants completed a survey rating their impressions of “the average user” of eight different dating methods.
Three of these methods were online – online dating websites/apps that use algorithm-based matching (e.g., eHarmony), online dating apps/websites that exclusively use profile browsing (e.g., Tinder), and meeting through social media (e.g., Facebook). Five methods were offline: meeting by going out (e.g., bars, clubs), meeting through one’s main occupation (work, colleagues), meeting through luck/serendipity/chance encounters, meeting through friends or family, and meeting through groups that one belongs to (e.g., religious, hobby, etc.).
For each dating type, participants rated their impression of “the average” user on 11 different attributes ranging from positive (desirable, attractive, smart, likable, romantic, cool) to negative (weird, questionable, shameful, desperate). They also reported which dating methods they had personally used.
Results showed that ratings of these attributes clustered into two groups – positive perceptions (all positive attributes) and negative perceptions (all negative). Individuals who attributed one negative property to the “average user” tended to attribute the other negative properties to that individual as well. The same was the case with positive attributes.
Participants who had used online dating methods reported more positive perceptions of daters overall compared to participants who had not used online methods. These individuals also viewed those who searched for dates through work, groups, or family and friends more negatively compared to individuals who did not use online dating methods.
Interestingly, both online dating users and non-users had less positive and more negative perceptions of online daters compared to those who met dates through traditional methods. Online dating users, however, held more positive views of online daters than non-users.
“Given the rising popularity of online methods to pursue romantic relationships, it is surprising that daters who use online methods continue to be regarded with suspicion and some disdain, even by individuals with experience using these methods,” the study authors concluded. “As individuals see more positive online method exemplars profiled in the media, such as Internet influencers or other public figures who openly discuss meeting their partners online, the stigma associated with using the Internet to find dates may be reduced or reversed.”
“In the present, those who use online methods to find a partner are perceived to be at least somewhat deviant and undesirable; in the future, it is possible that people will come to see online users as cool, smart, and attractive individuals unafraid of using technology to find love.”
The study sheds light on perceptions of online daters. However, it should be noted that study participants are a convenience sample and might not be representative of the general population of Canada. Additionally, it focused on general stereotypes about users of different dating methods and did not take into account the possibility that individuals might hold more nuanced views of individuals using a specific method to find dates.
The paper, “Desperate or desirable? Perceptions of individuals seeking dates online and offline”, was authored by Trenton C. Johanis, Claire E. Midgley, and Penelope Lockwood.