Online Matches Have Successful Marriages
Jasbina Ahluwalia asks Dr. John Cacioppo: What about after the people meet online and they marry?
Were there any statistically significant differences that you found post-marriage with respect to spouses who did meet online initially versus offline?
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Dr. John Cacioppo
Online Matches Have Successful Marriages: Not Every One
There is something that I want to clarify.
Just because I might meet someone online doesn’t mean that I end up marrying them.
Many of those meetings lead to dates and then nothing. It’s the same with offline dating, of course.
Online Matches Have Successful Marriages
We’re looking at a subset of those who met online. These are the individuals who met someone and then subsequently married.
We find that those marriages are less likely during the course of our study to have ended up in separation or divorce.
Online Matches Have Successful Marriages: Satisfied Marriages
They are also associated with higher levels of marital satisfaction, both of which were very surprising to me. These effects are very small.
The averages were very similar between the two groups.
Another one is that the online was at least as good, and in fact, a little better than the offline meetings.
That’s a surprising fact. I would have thought it would be the other way.
That is with respect to both marital satisfaction as well as longevity of the marriage itself?
Dr. John Cacioppo
That’s right. Again, there is not a big difference, but the online meetings are not leading to worse marriages.
That’s the big take-home message. If anything, they’re better.
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Tell Us:
Online matches have successful marriages, are you part of this new statistic? If so, share with us how you make your marriage work. Drop us a line in the comments section below.
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The above is an excerpt from Jasbina’s interview with Dr. John Cacioppo
The entire interview transcript is at: Dr. John Cacioppo Interview – Insights From A Social Psychologist on Growth of Online Dating
Listen to the entire interview on: Intersections Match Talk Radio – Jasbina’s Lifestyle Show
Listen to the entire interview on Blog Talk Radio: Insights From A Social Psychologist on Growth of Online Dating – John Cacioppo
Listen to the entire interview on iTunes
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