EHARMONIOUS RESEARCH

Couples United By Internet Dating Sites Are Happiest, Says Internet Dating Site Boardmember

USED TO BE LOOKING FOR LOVE ON THE INTERNET WAS construed as the lot of losers who had run out of options. But those who traveled down that road may get the last laugh, as a new study by two University of Chicago researchers concludes unions birthed on Internet dating sites are stronger.

In a survey of 19,131 American adults who married between 2005 and 2012, 35 percent reported having met their spouses online, according to research by John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago’s Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience. Of that group, 45 percent met through dating sites, with another 21 percent connecting through social networks.

The results are published in the Proceedings Of The National Academy of Sciences.

“Meeting online is no longer an anomaly, and the prospects are good,” says Cacioppo, a professor of social neuroscience.

Even more surprising — these couples report higher levels of marital satisfaction and lower divorce rates.

Cacioppo’s study doesn’t explore the reasons for the differences, but he speculates it’s partly because people online tend to be “a little more honest and self-disclosing,” and because these individuals may be more goal-minded about marriage.

“When you are face to face, there is face-saving,” he tells Time. “When you don’t [see each other], you can be more comfortable being yourself.”

The research was funded by online matchmaking site eHarmony and Cacioppo serves on the company’s advisory board, which raises questions of a conflict of interest. But Cacioppo, a “brilliant” researcher with an “impeccable reputation,” says he had two independent statisticians doublecheck his work.

And he rationalizes the financial support by saying “there has been very little government funding for research about love, marriage and relationships in last several decades. It’s easy to make fun of, but it’s really important for us to understand, because we aren’t doing it very well.”