Eharmony – Best for Finding a Serious Relationship. Eharmony has brought together millions of. Available to download from the App Store and Google Play, the Thursday app had over 110,000 users signed up in London and New York prior to its launch due to simple yet effective dating ethos.

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Dating app users are more likely to find lasting love than fleeting relationships, according to a study published Wednesday by the journal PLOS ONE.

Based on data from a 2018 survey of dating app users in Switzerland, app-formed couples have stronger cohabitation intentions than couples who meet offline, the researchers said.

In addition, partners who met via dating apps express the same level of satisfaction about their relationship as other couples, and are more diverse in terms of educational and geographic background, according to the researchers.

'The Internet is profoundly transforming the dynamics of how people meet,' study co-author Gina Potarca said in a statement.

However, although 'large parts of the media claim [apps] have a negative impact on the quality of relationships ... there has been no evidence to prove this is the case,' said Potarca, a researcher at the University of Geneva's Institute of Demography and Socioeconomics in Switzerland.

More than 30 million people in the United States have used a dating site or app, with more than one-third preferring the app approach, according to estimates from Pew Research.

Many data sites and apps have reported increased traffic in recent months, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen stay-at-home orders issued and bars and restaurants, traditional meeting places for fledgling couples, closed, an analysis by the Brookings Institution revealed.

For this study, Potarca and her colleagues analyzed data from a 2018 family survey by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, focusing on a sample of 3,235 people 18 years old and older who were in a relationship and who had met their partner in the past 10 years.

Among survey respondents, dating websites primarily attract people over age 40 and divorcees looking for romance, according to the researchers.

However, younger adults appear to be turned off by the lengthy questionnaires, bios and personality tests required by these sites, preferring the photo- and general personality trait-based approach of mobile apps, the researchers said.

In addition, although they were less interested in committing time to online dating, couples that formed after meeting on an app were more motivated by the idea of cohabiting than others, the data showed.

Women in couples that formed through dating apps mentioned wanting and planning to have a child in the near future, more so than with any other way of meeting, the researchers said.

Couples in the survey were equally satisfied with their lives and the quality of their relationships, regardless of whether they met through an app or not, according to the researchers.

Long Term Dating

Partners who met via apps have more diversified socio-educational profiles, which 'may have to do with selection methods that focus mainly on the visual,' Potarca said.

Because app users can easily connect with partners both in their immediate region and elsewhere, apps make it easier to meet people more than 30 minutes away, leading to an increase in long-distance relationships, she said.

'Knowing that dating apps have likely become even more popular during this year's periods of lockdown and social distancing, it is reassuring to dismiss alarming concerns about the long-term effects of using these tools,' Potarca said.

Online dating sites and apps are transforming relationships. More than 10 percent of American adults—and almost 40 percent of people who identify as “single and looking”—are using online dating websites and apps.

But what might someone from the 19th century think about this unique fusion of technology and romance?

In the late 1800s, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had a lot to say about love. Arguing that society was heading toward nihilism—that is, a world without meaning, morals and values—Nietzsche thought that romantic love was frivolous, with friendship acting as a much stronger foundation for relationships.

Long Term Dating Without Marriage

From a Nietzschean perspective, the rise of dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Grindr that encourage us to “swipe” or judge potential lovers in a nanosecond could be cited as examples of a society that has become obsessed with pleasure and instant gratification.

Nietzsche also said that instinctive judgments are misleading because they “pronounce their Yes and No before the understanding can speak.” Furthermore, to act impulsively is decadent and hedonistic, and these are “signposts to nihilism.”

So does the rise of online dating in our culture signal an embrace of self-indulgence? And does it come at the expense of long-term relationships?

The research is mixed, but a few dominant themes emerge, including findings showing that “swiping right” might not be the best way to find a true match.

Quick picks

Tinder certainly isn’t killing romance—at least, that of the ephemeral kind.

More choices, more relationships, and more socializing open up new kinds of opportunities that wouldn’t have existed without dating apps and websites. A 2012 study found that the Internet has allowed users to find partners more easily, especially homosexuals and middle-aged people who operate in a “thin market.”

Long Term Dating Apps Online

The big question is whether marriages that originate online work out in the long run. Here, the research is mixed. Some studies suggest that American marriages that begin online are slightly less prone to collapse than those who met offline. Other studies find the opposite.

Nonetheless, there’s an inherent problem with how these online relationships begin—at least, from a Nietzschean perspective.

Because users instinctively react to photographs, they’re choosing dates or matches based on sexual attraction and airbrushed beauty. (Studies also show that users will misrepresent themselves on their online profiles.)

So sure, there might be an initial physical spark. But what about the things that ensure a long-term relationship, like trust, constructive communication and enjoying joint activities?

Tired romance

Online Dating Terms

The fundamental problem with modern Western coupling is the ideal that romantic love culminates in marriage—and will last forever.

This ignores the fact that romantic passion dissolves over time. Nietzsche likened it to an engraving that fades when bare fingers continually touch it. Lovers tire of each other. Habits weigh them down. Love’s passion and beauty atrophy.

Research about how long romance lasts tends to vary. But most arrive at the same conclusion: it doesn’t last forever.

A group of Italian scientists found that neuropeptides—molecules associated with the euphoria of love—returned to normal levels within 12 to 24 months of being in a romantic relationship. Another group of neurobiologists found that levels of hormones such as cortisol change upon falling in love and return to normal levels after 12 to 18 months. Other researchers found that people in a relationship for 28.8 months on average appeared less intensely in love than those who had been in love for 7.4 months.

On the other hand, in 2009, researchers at Stony Brook University conducted a meta-analysis of 25 studies of romantic lovers who were college age or older. They suggested that as long as we don’t include the obsessiveness of the early phases of romantic love in our definition of it, then long-term romance may be possible.

Whatever the lucky number, the reality is that over one-third of marriages do not make it to a 25-year silver anniversary. And even without the work of social scientists at hand, Nietzsche understood that, in many cases, romantic passion fades. As a solution, he suggested banning marriage for a couple in the initial throes of romantic passion.

He fantasized about giving two lovers a special pair of glasses so that they could see how the other would look in 20 years’ time. Presumably, it would either extinguish their attraction, or they’d be better prepared to grow old together.

Sexual attraction is undoubtedly an important part of romance. But from a Nietzschean perspective, strong-willed people enjoy the intoxication of loving, but have the big picture in mind: they realize the main criterion for choosing a long-term partner ought to be the ability to hold a decent conversation. Nietzsche suggested that intellectual attraction would provide a deeper and more durable foundation for relationships than sex appeal.

Dating Apps For Long Term Relationships

Research suggests that the ability to communicate is central to relationship durability. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Family Psychology suggested that negative communication is one of the key culprits of divorce. Another 2010 study found—unsurprisingly—that couples who criticized and yelled at each other early in the marriage had higher divorce rates.

Forming an über-relationhip

Apps discourage friendship more than any other form of courtship because they rush “Yes and No” snap judgments of others with information that’s highly edited.

Nietzsche warned that by presenting ourselves in highly curated ways, we risk becoming victims of our own acting skills because we have to become our masks in order to sustain the illusions we create. In the process, we sacrifice authenticity. (A study in 2002 found that the few people who reveal their “true” selves online create more enduring friendships.)

If lovers were better friends, relationships would be healthier. Great friends support and encourage each other to look beyond themselves, to achieve their goals and to become better people. Nietzsche referred to this as striving toward the ideal of the Übermensch.

Marriage is still useful when taken seriously, but it’s not the only valuable structure. Married or cohabiting, open or closed, gay or straight, sexual or platonic, brief or lifelong—all can work just as well, as long as they’re built on a foundation of trust, respect and friendship.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.