[Life Style] Swipe left? Why it could be harder to find love in the age of Tinder

[GL HERO SHIMA]

Finding a long-term partner is trickier than ever, argues Paul C Brunson, a lead researcher at Tinder. David Robson asks him how cultural and technological shifts are changing our relationships.

Technology offers us many new opportunities for meeting romantic or sexual partners, but has this altered our overall attitudes to dating and relationships?

To find out, science writer David Robson spoke to Paul C Brunson, head of global research at Tinder and author of the new book Find Love: How to Navigate Modern Love and Discover the Right Partner for You.

Is it true that finding a partner is harder now than ever before?

Finding a partner has always been a very important decision, but based on the research for this book, I do believe that finding and keeping love today is harder than any point in human history. One reason is that today, we have more variations of what is considered an acceptable relationship. You can be monogamous or in a polyamorous relationship, living together or living apart – there are dozens and dozens of acceptable forms. And that makes finding the partner to match your end goal more challenging.

Secondly, we demand more from our partner than ever before. Formerly, it was the person to help protect or raise the child, or to tend the farm. Then, as you move through the ages, it became someone who would be a companion. But now – as [psychologist] Eli Finkel discusses in his research – we've reached a point of "self-evolution", where we are searching for everything out of our partner. We want them to be our intellectual equal, we want them to be the CEO of the business that we launch, we want them to be a great co-parent, we want them to be a phenomenal sex partner.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240410-how-love-is-changing-in-the-tinder-age