Couples who meet online are more likely to date than marry

More than 60 percent of people who met online are in non-martial relationships, so a minority are married, according to a recent report in Cyberpsychology.

The journal article, published in October 2014, studied couples who met online and offline. Other studies have compared online dating to traditional methods.

The study is titled “Is Online Better than Offline for Meeting Partners? Depends: Are you Looking to Marry or to Date."

It used that previous research and theories drawn from those studies.

Online dating is a big industry. One in ten Americans said they have used online dating or a mobile application on their phones to find partners. 

This study concluded that 49 percent of those people, online daters, were searching for martial relationships.

The majority wanted to date and have a casual companion.

The study pinpointed three main reasons online couple are reluctant to get married.

Online dating provides too many options, so partners often think a better option is available.

Two, online relationships take a longer time to develop. Three, online daters are wary of potential partners.

However, a recent study led by eHarmony.com concluded that one out of three marriages begin online.

Online couples more likely to breakup than the offline counterparts

There are a few advantages to online dating: a wider pool dating poll, the ability to locate people who share similar values and interests and quick intimacy.

But those advantages don’t keep couples who meet online are more likely to stay together.

This study debunked past research. This study concluded couples that meet online are more likely to breakup than people who met offline.

Past studies mistakenly focused almost exclusively on married couples. But many online couples never reached that stage.

Focusing solely on married couples who met online leads to biased results.

This study explicitly acknowledged and studied the breakup rates for non-martial relationships.

Relationship quality and the length of relationship often predict if couples will stay together

The more time couples spend with each other, the more stable the relationship becomes.This leads to more marriages or serious relationships.

Relationship quality is an important factor, as well.

If the relationship was fulfilling and happy couples were more likely to stay together.