Scientific studies show whether it is possible to find ideal love on dating sites

According to a survey by the research company IBISWorld (USA), nowadays with more than 19 thousand people, 1/3 of marriages start with virtual meetings. But why do fewer and fewer relationships that start out virtually turn into long-term relationships? Or: why do many of these ‘couples’ break up after the second date? Experts say that people expect too much from the Internet.

Today, we’re going to show why this happens and how social networks can be a tool to help people get to know each other.

Imagine that you are focused on finding your soul mate and you choose two dating sites. In one of them, you must leave a brief description about yourself. In the other, you have to answer a questionnaire with more than 100 detailed questions about yourself and the type of person you are looking for. In which case is the probability of finding the right person greater? The answer is: there is no difference.

Dating apps can’t say for sure whether people will like each other in real life. This is the conclusion of an experiment carried out in the USA. The degree of complexity of the compatibility algorithm has nothing to do with this story.

The experiment participants carefully answered dozens of simple and complex questions. Then they went on 4-minute speed dates with suitors. Everyone had to write down how interesting and sexually attractive the other person was.

Then the researchers predicted the outcome of each encounter based on detailed data from previously completed questionnaires. Interestingly, the prediction attempt failed a lot. Furthermore, it was impossible to state any rule that determined when participants would feel interest or rejection.

According to the authors of the experiment, the knowledge of romantic preferences can predict liking between two people, but not attraction. Only the speed dating indicators (eg, emotional reaction) gave the scientists the opportunity to predict how much one participant would fall in love with another. It was then that they came to the conclusion that attraction arises in cases where people meet in real life, outside of social networks.

That doesn’t mean dating apps don’t make sense. All the criteria you specify about the ideal person can serve as a kind of filter and limit the search. Therefore, the probability of finding the right person with whom you feel a special chemistry for life can be greatly increased.

So the essence of dating sites and apps is that they give us a list of suitable candidates (generally single). But don’t expect miracles. If your great love story started on a website, consider yourself lucky.

Statistics show that people who have trouble getting to know each other and starting a relationship in real life derive the most benefit from virtual dating. If you like statistics, you’ll be pleased to know that 81% of dating app users lie about their age, height and weight. “People lie to justify the expectations of the audience”, says Professor Catalina L. Toma, from the Department of Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

Remember we said that 1/3 of marriages start with virtual dates? Here’s another interesting fact: according to data from the University of Michigan (USA), marriages originating from these encounters have a 28% probability of ending in the first year, and the total number of divorces of couples who know each other virtually is 3 times greater than than those who know each other personally.

Dating sites make us more demanding, to use no other adjective. When we see a lot of candidates, we start to eliminate the ones that don’t seem ideal to us and, paradoxically, we prolong our loneliness.

What is your opinion on dating sites and apps? Do you use it? Share your opinion in the comments!