Online Dating: Urban Sexuality Meets Common Sense

Women often have a harder time remarrying, sociologists found

 

The typical Caucasian male or female is now single for about half of his or her adult life, a shift that has had a major impact on cultural institutions and the ways people interact, researchers reported. While people of other generations tended to marry shortly after entering the work force and remain married to the same spouse, today's marriages occur later in life and often are briefer.

That trend has led to new ways of coping, such as online dating in which singles search for companionship and sex.

Families, communities and local religious organizations also were found to exert enormous power in the shaping of sexual relationships. In heavily Latino neighbourhoods, for example, the influence of family, friends and the church remains strong. However, among young upper-income people, the workplace and college were the most important meeting places.

Women often have a harder time remarrying, sociologists found. Many already have kids, and men may not want to raise other men's children. A man in his 40s will seek a woman who is five to eight years younger, forcing older women to change their dating strategies for meeting partners.

The researchers found that adultery breaks up marriages at a rate of about 4 percent a year. However, when the adultery occurs among people who are living together but unmarried, the defection rate jumps to 15 to 20 percent.