Recent research published in Journal of social and personal relationships We show evidence that the greater the number of online dating options, the greater the desire to pursue a relationship with the person of choice. This research suggests that the larger the pool of potential partners, the better the chances of finding a compatible connection. This finding of a better match increases dating motivation and challenges the common belief that online dating automatically becomes distracting when there are too many options.
Today, the majority of people use the Internet to find love, but many report being frustrated with the process. The prevailing view among scientists is that there is an overwhelming number of options for dating apps. This abundance is thought to cause choice overload, a psychological phenomenon in which people become overly particular and reluctant to settle down when they have too many choices.
Several previous studies support this idea, suggesting that online daters treat potential partners like products on a grocery store shelf. In this consumer mindset, users may worry that they are missing out on better matches by constantly evaluating new profiles. This mindset often leads to lower satisfaction with the person you ultimately choose.
The authors of the new paper sought to explore a different perspective, borrowed from economics. Junwen Hu, a communication researcher at Michigan State University, co-authored the study with David Markowitz, an associate professor of communication at Michigan State University. They theorized that having more options could actually be beneficial for daters.
The researchers noted that the tech industry often assumes that users have fewer options to succeed. “Dating apps tend to limit the number of potential dates people have to prevent the choice paradox (too many options),” the authors explained. “This relates to an old debate in the field: Does limiting choice[to previous candidates]impede participation? To address this, we conducted two experiments comparing different explanations that have emerged in the literature.”
Scientists viewed online dating as a matching market, a system in which people with very different characteristics, interests, and needs search for someone who fits their particular tastes. In this type of market, both sides value each other. Success largely depends on how well the two people’s goals and lifestyles align.
In economics, a concept called the thick market effect suggests that larger markets increase the chances of finding a very specific, compatible mate. For example, someone looking for a highly specialized job is more likely to find it in a large city than in a small rural town. Researchers theorized that this same mathematical logic applies to dating apps.
To test these ideas, the researchers conducted two separate online experiments. The first experiment recruited 193 single adults in the United States between the ages of 21 and 30 through an online survey platform. The sample had a relatively even mix of men and women of various ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations.
Participants were told they were testing a new dating site called “Date Today.” First, participants answered questions about their demographics, dating preferences, hobbies, and qualities they look for in a partner. They were then shown a series of realistic dating profiles that matched their desired gender. All profiles were extracted from a pre-tested database to ensure authenticity.
The scientists randomly assigned participants to one of two conditions. The low option group displayed 6 profile choices and the high option group displayed 31 profile choices. After viewing a single page of options, each participant had to select one person with whom they would like to go on a date.
Next, the researchers measured participants’ direct intentions to pursue their chosen relationship. They also measured participants’ general readiness to commit to a relationship. To understand the psychological mechanisms at work, the scientists asked participants to rate how picky they felt, how compatible they thought they were with their chosen partner, their perceived social status, and their fear of being single.
This finding contradicts the idea that more options reduce commitment. “Our results go against conventional wisdom that people should limit their online dating options,” the researchers said. Participants who viewed 31 profiles reported stronger intentions to pursue a relationship with their chosen partner compared to participants who viewed only six profiles.
In this first study, the high-option group showed no difference in general commitment readiness, but significantly higher immediate desire to date the person of their choice.
The researchers analyzed the data to understand the psychological mechanisms behind this increased motivation. The results showed that participants in groups with more choices felt a stronger affinity for their chosen partner. This perceived sense of compatibility directly predicted their desire to pursue dating.
The scientists found no evidence that viewing more profiles made participants overly selective. Viewing many profiles did not affect participants’ perceptions of social status or fear of being single. The positive effects of finding compatible matches seem to outweigh the negative effects of choice overload.
To confirm these findings, the authors conducted a second experiment with a larger group of 342 single adults between the ages of 18 and 35. To ensure the results applied to real-world scenarios, the researchers only included participants who actively used dating apps. Although the procedure mirrored the original experiment, the scientists refined the questionnaire to include a measure of perceived similarity.
The second experiment replicated the results of the first experiment. Participants who selected from 31 profiles showed higher relationship pursuit intentions than participants who selected from 6 profiles. This large-scale study also demonstrated higher general commitment readiness in the high-option group.
Once again, the data shows that compatibility is the driving force. By looking at more profiles, participants were able to find people they thought were highly compatible and similar to themselves. This strong sense of similarity motivated us to pursue meaningful connections.
“Online daters can be harmed by having their choices overly limited. Online daters are more motivated to date when they choose that person from a larger pool of options,” Hu and Markowitz told SciPost. “This effect can be seen in our design, which asks users to clarify their preferences before an online dating session.”
The authors suggest that these results have practical significance for the technology industry and users seeking romance. “Our findings have important implications for users and platforms,” the researchers noted. “Our findings suggest that online daters can be more proactive when seeking dates from places where they have plenty of options, rather than limiting their options.”
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. It might be easy to think that unlimited options are always good, but the researchers only measured participants’ reactions immediately after they selected a profile. Real-world dating requires you to take your time and interact, and after a few days of chatting, your satisfaction with your choices can change.
Additionally, the experimental setting required participants to select one specific profile from a single static options page. In real dating apps, you often continuously swipe through one profile at a time, which can trigger a variety of psychological reactions. Additionally, testing a pool of several hundred profiles against a pool of 30 profiles may reveal a breaking point where selection overload eventually takes over.
“Our findings should be interpreted in a very specific context: daters were instructed to choose one person to date, were asked for an immediate response (to interact with the chosen person or not), made their preferences clear before making their choice, and the characteristics and preferences of the candidates varied randomly,” the authors explained.
In the future, scientists plan to continue investigating how digital environments shape romantic relationships. They aim to incorporate economic principles into broader communication theory to understand modern matchmaking.
“We hope this study will lead to a practical theory of mediated relationship exploration that reconsiders the role of insights from market economics,” the researchers said. “As communication scholars, we often study how people create meaning from social interactions at the micro level. But we hope that structural forces (that are not modified by individual intentions, like market design) can also be factored into this equation.”
The authors also see opportunities to apply these insights outside the lab to improve the user experience in real-world dating applications. Hu and Markowitz added: “We encourage digital platforms interested in improving the well-being of online daters to collaborate with us.”
The study, “Revisiting Relationship Pursuits and Mate Choice in Online Dating,” was authored by Junwen M. Hu and David M. Markowitz.
