It’s interesting. Once upon a time, personal ads were a last resort for single folks. And even with the advent of internet dating, it took a long time for it to really catch on broadly. There was a time (during my lifetime that I can remember clearly) that if you met online, it was something that was whispered or admitted in an embarrassed tone. Nowadays, however, it’s basically assumed that most relationships start online. It’s actually considered a lot more unusual if you met some other way (via friends, from a group or activity, etc.).
Things have really changed.
Anyway, as a person who has struggled quite a bit with depression and anxiety — and who has found partners online and via other in person methods — I found today’s study about dating app use, social anxiety, and depression quite fascinating.
Men With Depression & Anxiety Use Dating Apps More But Reach Out to Matches Less #
A recent study found the following:
Both social anxiety and depression were linked with using dating apps more.
This link was found in men and women. However, men with depression and anxiety had an additional finding that was not found in depressed and anxious women. Men with depression and anxiety were less likely to reach out to potential matches.
There was no difference in likelihood to reach out to potential matches among women that were depressed and anxious and women who weren’t. This was because women were as a group quite unlikely to initiate contact with their potential matches (instead, they seemed to wait to be contacted).
Note: No information was provided about nonbinary people as an individual cohort in this research.
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This post is part of an ongoing Poly Land feature called Psyched for the Weekend, in which I geek out with brief takes about some of my favorite psychological studies and concepts. For the entire series, please see this link.