Studies

A new study by eHarmony found that a whopping 90 percent of singles in the U.K. believe they are addicted to dating apps, with as many as 70 percent feeling depressed or anxious after using them.

According to the researchers, almost half (48 percent) said they check their apps as the last thing before going to bed, and roughly 39 percent said they check their dating apps first thing when they wake up. Nearly a third said they check them while at work (with 31 percent of men admitting to this compared to 25 percent of women), and 12 percent admitted to checking their dating apps while on a date.

Researchers also found that 55 percent of U.K. singles believe they spend too much time on dating apps, with an average of 55 minutes per person per day. eHarmony deduced that the average person is having about 6 conversations at any given time, and 8 percent might have as many as 15 conversations at once.

OkCupid is testing ChatGPT questions to provide users of its app, harnessing the popular AI technology for itself.

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, with millions of people testing its writing skills, so naturally daters are using it to chat with their matches over dating apps. OkCupid has often analyzed user behavior and preferences to choose new features to add, so now the dating app is sharing that it’s been sending out questions formulated not by people, but by the popular AI ChatBot.

According to Tech Crunch, the six questions generated by ChatGPT have already been answered more than 135,000 times, mostly by Gen Z users. In fact, 31 percent of Gen Z users on OkCupid said they don’t think that using AI to create a profile or message someone on a dating app is a violation of trust, according to Mashable.

The questions introduced by ChatGPT include:

Image: OkCupid

A new study by OkCupid found that 87 percent of its female users are pro-choice, and about half (49%) said that a date’s differing opinion on abortion would make them think twice about dating them. The company noted that more than one million users added the “I’m Pro-Choice” badge to their profiles.

OkCupid also found that views on abortion were more polarizing than competing views on politics (where 30% said they would think twice about dating someone with different views). And last year, 72 percent of women said they would not move to a state where abortion was illegal, and 37 percent said they would move out of their state if abortion became illegal there.

The new study comes as the landmark ruling of Roe v Wade would have turned 50 this year. It was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of last year, which removed federal protections for those receiving and providing abortions. Since then, many states have opted to place severe restrictions on who can access abortion care, with some banning the practice outright. Texas enacted some of the most extreme anti-abortion laws, rewarding people for turning in to authorities anyone who assists a woman in getting an abortion.

Following a devastating study by Brigham Young University which found that hundreds of instances of rape in Utah could be linked to dating apps, the state’s lawmakers are introducing legislation to help curb the problem.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, under the proposed legislation, online dating platforms would be required to provide a list of safety measures as well as instructions for how users can report assaults. These companies will also be expected to notify members if background checks are conducted and if a user they’ve messaged has been banned from the app.

The legislation had been proposed before, but now is being reintroduced this legislative session by state Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, according to The Tribune.

OkCupid recently surveyed its users regarding their attitudes about dating going into 2023, finding that singles are more interested in open relationships and discussions about sex.

OkCupid had nearly 10 billion responses to matching questions in 2022 which revealed what singles will be looking for in 2023.

In addition to the pandemic’s impact on dating habits in general, younger daters are driving conversation around mental health, sober dating, and attitudes towards relationships and sex, according to OkCupid’s blog. Open relationships have been around for a while, but now young daters are challenging the stigma that has always been attached to them. Over the summer, OkCupid found that there was a 26 percent increase in mentions of “ENM” or “ethical non-monogamy” compared to the beginning of 2022, and a 42 percent increase compared to last summer.

Attitudes towards open relationships have shifted globally – with 30 percent of OkCupid users saying they would be interested in an open relationship (about 8.5 million singles), with Gen Z and Millennial daters being the most interested in ENM. The numbers are highest among European daters, with 49 percent of singles in Spain saying they would consider an open relationship, 46 percent in Switzerland, 40 percent in the Netherlands, 39 percent in Germany, and 37 percent in Italy. Brazil, Australia, and Canada had 35 percent, 34 percent and 31 percent of users interested in open relationships, respectively.

Image: OkCupid

Dating app OkCupid recently surveyed its users to assess the state of dating around the world in 2022. The company found that users are increasingly interested in discussing mental health and inflation concerns with potential dates.

Nearly all 1.6 million respondents from around the world said that mental health was as important as physical health, a noticeable shift in what daters are willing to talk about as they are getting to know each other. In fact, there was an 18 percent increase in people mentioning “mental health” and “therapy” on OkCupid profiles compared to last year. Part of the reason according to OkCupid is that Gen Z is driving these conversations and are a growing demographic. Discussions about mental health have also increased in the wake of the pandemic.

One of the most-asked questions on the platform is “are you sensitive?” and more than 90 percent of singles surveyed said they are (51 percent said sometimes, and 42 percent said all of the time). The company noted that admitting this seems to garner more attention and better response, especially for men.