A new study of online dating site members has found that when couples who had built up a significant relationship by e-mailing or chatting online met for the first time, 94 per cent went on to see each other again.

Perhaps surprisingly, the study, by Dr Jeff Gavin, of the University of Bath, alsofound that men were more emotionally dependent on their ⿾e-partners⿔ than women, andmore committed to the relationship.

Old-fashioned romance isnâ¿”t dead, however: among the surveyâ¿”s findings were that exchanginggifts was the best way to ensure commitment in the relationship.

Dr Gavinâ¿”s research comes at a time when the numbers using internet dating agencieshave steadily increased: around six million Britons are now believed to have signedup.

Dr Gavin, with Dr Adrian Scott of the University of Bath and Dr Jill Duffield of theUniversity of the West of England, carried out an online survey of 229 people, aged18 to 65, who have used UK internet dating sites, asking them about their main relationshipthat they had had online. Dr Gavinâ¿”s paper will be presented to a conference nextmonth.

The research showed that:

• 94 per cent of those surveyed saw their ⿾e-partnerâ¿” again after first meeting them, and the relationships lasted for an average of at least seven months, with 18 per cent of them lasting over a year.
• men online were significantly more likely to be committed to the relationship than women and were more dependent on their ⿾e-partnerâ¿”.
• the more the couple engaged in simultaneous online chat before meeting rather than simply e-mailing one another, the more they were found to depend on one another emotionally and the more they understood one another.
• those who exchanged gifts before meeting had a more committed and deeper relationship.
• the more the couple talked on the telephone before they met, the deeper the relationship.

Dr Gavin, of the Universityâ¿”s Psychology Department, and his co-authors, found thatpeople using the internet rarely used webcams, which allow computer users to see oneanother, because they preferred the greater anonymity of writing and using the telephone.

⿯This study shows that online dating can work for many people, leading to a successfulmeeting for almost everyone we surveyed,⿝ said Dr Gavin.

⿯Given that the most successful relationships lasted at least seven months, and insome case over a year, it seems that these relationships have a similar level of successas ones formed in more conventional ways.

⿯We found that men tend to be more committed to the online relationships than women,possibly because the anonymity of writing gives them a chance to express their emotionsmore readily than in real life.

⿯We also found that people are shying away from using webcams because they feel it⿔simportant not see their partners for some time ⿦quot; there is something special abouttext-based relationships.⿝

Dr Gavin believes that the reason that using the telephone and online chatting indicatesa deeper relationship is that these are methods of simultaneous communication, wherease-mails are more formal.

Of the relationships, 39 per cent were still going on at the time of the survey, andof these 24 per cent had been going for at least a year, and eight per cent for atleast two years. Of the relationships that had already ended at the time of the survey,14 per cent had lasted over a year, and four per cent had lasted over two years. more…

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Originally Posted on 9/24/2005 1:50:39 PM
Content source: http://www.datingobserver.com/