Looking for a spouse or a companion

The increasing popularity of social media, online dating sites, and mobile applications for meeting people and initiating relationships has made online dating an effective means of finding a future spouse. The intriguing results of a new study that extends this comparison of online/offline meeting venues to include non-marital relationships, and explores whether break-up rates for both marital and non-marital relationships differ depending on whether a couple first met online or offline are reported in an article in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

In the article "Is Online Better Than Offline for Meeting Partners? Depends: Are You Looking to Marry Or to Date?" Aditi Paul, Michigan State University, East Lansing, provides data showing higher break-up rates for couples who met online compared to offline whether they were in marital or non-marital romantic relationships. Additional factors besides the meeting venue can help predict whether a couple will stay together or break up, according to the author; these may differ for marital versus non-marital relationships and include the quality and duration of the relationship.

"The time-tested qualities of trust and intimacy still remain important factors on determining whether a couple stays together, regardless of whether they meet offline or online," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium and Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California.