Love in the age of algorithms: Are apps and social media ruining dating?

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Social media is a major cause of "confusion" when dating - with women particularly at risk, suggests a new study.

Researchers found that most young adults reported feeling confused about their options when it comes to dating decisions.

Preliminary analysis suggests that more than half of young people experience confusion about choosing life partners - with women more likely to report partner selection confusion than men.

As a result of the ever-present nature of social media and digital dating in the lives of young people, they are now exposed to many more potential mates than ever before.

But the availability of popular dating apps and ease of photo enhancement can "distort" the reality of the available pool of dating candidates, say scientists.

Chayan Munshi, executive director of the Ethophilia Research Foundation in India said: “Human mate selection is a complicated psychological process, which is effectively influenced by multiple societal factors including appearance, personality and financial situation.

“More recently, this has become significantly influenced by social media where constant exposure to sexually stimulating or attractive content creates certain perceptions of reality in the young mindset, which ultimately creates confusion in terms of selecting potential mating partners.”

The Ethophilia Research Foundation is investigating how the digitalization of society is regulating human behavior.

Munshi said: “This project started with extensive observation of human behavioral patterns regarding partner choice.

“This observational study was followed by direct interactions with a young population using an open questionnaire.”

The preliminary results of the ongoing project come from a survey of young adults in India, with most respondents aged between 18 and 30.

The survey included questions related to romantic partner selection, such as “Do you feel confused when selecting a life partner?”, “What are your criteria for selecting a life partner?”, “Do you still look for other partners if you are already in a stable relationship?” and “Do you like to switch to a ‘better option’ when selecting a life partner?”.

The initial results show that the perception of potential mate availability may be "skewing" how people judge their life partner options, even while in existing relationships.

Munshi said: “For instance, impulsiveness is significantly exhibited, and there is a decrease in in-person social interactions.

“This is exposing confusion while people search for a mating partner and can manifest complexities in maintaining a relationship.”

Munshi says that the ongoing research will help to build a better understanding of how mate selection is evolving in humans.

He said: “Our hypothesis strongly indicates that the ‘pleasure index’ or ‘adrenaline rush’ of relationships is taking more prime importance in the younger generation over long-term stability.

“It is alarming that impulsiveness or confusion can lead to instability in the human relation-maintaining behavior, which is actually affecting the normal social behavior in humans.”

Munshi added: “The pattern now is notable enough to indicate that this might modify the social norms of partner choice behavior in young humans, which might have significant effect on the brain-behavior circuit.

“In the long run, this may eventually alter the fundamental protocol of evolutionary mating strategies.”

The findings were presented at the Society for Experimental Biology annual conference in Prague, Czech Republic.

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