Psychology of online dating
Life Style

Psychology of online dating

online dating

In the world of social media, online dating is not a new term. As time passes by, we can figure out that, in online dating most of the time people are getting hurt instead of getting emotional comfort. It’s really important to first understand what is online dating.

Online Dating

Online dating: Being in love/attraction/Sexual interest towards a person you may have not met or seen in person. Such people are in search of or in the habit of searching for love, sex, and emotional support from another person. Some people get into this (online dating) internationally and some without such direct intention. This means they started a casual conversation with an unknown person and found each other mutually interested in taking the conversation ahead into a relationship or more than friendship. The intensity of online dating is completely subjective. It can start from simple texting to sharing pictures, talking on call, sexting or meeting in person and taking the relationship into reality.

Read: Tips to manage mood swings and Regaining Emotional Regulation

Let’s find out what is the reason behind people joining such apps or dating methods.

  1. Some people join such apps only for fun or to take a break from their regular family and work life. Also to explore their hidden feelings and desires.
  2. Some People do not have a reach to the people with whom he or she can share their feelings or desires.
  3. Some people feel he/she is in a lack of trustworthy people who can understand them and hence they speak to unknown people to lighten up their emotional burden.
  4. Some people feel that it’s first good to know each other and then meet in reality if the thing works well.
  5. Some people join in just for fun and then find someone nice.
  6. Some people join only to forget their painful reality and dwell in imaginary life.
  7. Some individuals join in to help unknown people and then become attached to them.
  8. Some people join only because they want to seek approval from people with similar sexual/ emotional interests.

Reasons can be many but one thing is common- everyone who joins such an app is well aware that they are safe in reality (real-life people do not have any idea of this part of life unless they share or get caught).

Benefits of online dating
  • We find a companion with whom we can share our feelings and we have less fear of being judged.
  • Emotional satisfaction is high because we share more information.
  • Less expensive in comparison with meeting in person.
  • Don’t have to face much family or social boundaries when talking.
Risk factors in online dating
  • When people hide their identity, they tend to overshare their feelings and often get into trouble.
  • People can disappear anytime and it’s really difficult or something impossible to find that person again.
  • People can misuse such private information.
  • This relationship can affect a person’s daily life routine. A person is just a text or a call away.
  • We only know the narrator by the story they told us. To be with a person we must also observe the narrator in person. The coin has both sides. So people take the narration as reality and later find that person difficult to stay with.
Online dating and Mental Health

Research shows that people who are doing online dating have a higher level of distress, anxiety and depression. One reason can be, that we get so attached to the people and hold high expectations that it becomes difficult to accept if anything goes against the plan. Online dating is also closely connected to body image issues. People on online dating apps often use edited photos to hide their weight and size. Later when they meet in reality or see the person in the full picture it changes their perception towards the person. It affects both the person severely.

The best way to avoid future problems is to meet the person in reality in a social place and get to know each other in person. Because we are not identically the same person in thoughts and actions. Another person knows only our thoughts and actions speak louder than words in reality. So meeting up in the initial state can help the relationship to last long.

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