Single people on dating apps are shifting to more intentional dating since the pandemic began. That’s according to Match, the online dating company, which recently released its annual study on American singles, done by Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute research team.
In the study, 63 percent of active app daters said they are taking more time to get to know potential partners.
Justin Garcia, executive director of the Kinsey Institute and scientific advisor to Match, said video dating has become much more popular as an intermediary stage between texting and meeting in person. Garcia said he thinks video dating is here to stay because of its low-risk, low-cost nature as well as its benefits over just texting.
“The brain gets more sensory information," Garcia said. "You hear the tone of their voice, you see a little bit of their body language if you use your hands like I do when you talk, you see their dress, you can see something about their surroundings and the environment around them, so you get a lot more information.”
In the past three years, political alignment has become a much larger deciding factor in the dating world with a 25 percent increase in single people who want their potential partner to share their political beliefs. Now, three-quarters want that kind of match.
“I think that’s because politics, at least at the moment, has become so divisive, but also dealing with issues that are…it’s being used as a proxy for morality,” Garcia said.
Although the pandemic has been an obstacle, the study shows that people have continued to find new ways of connecting and finding love.
