Date of Award

6-2015

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Timothy Stablein

Language

English

Keywords

dating, online, expected, students, campus

Abstract

Past research of college campus relationships and dating has found that gender, religion, and parental marital status may each play a role in determining expectations and experiences. Due to the recent popularity with online dating, I explore college student’s expectations and experiences and the roles that gender, religion, and parental marital status play in this pursuit. An anonymous survey was sent to a random sample of 918 student e-mail addresses. Students were asked what they expected from online dating, and what the experiences have been like for those who have participated. The survey, containing both open and closed ended questions, was used to gain descriptive and exploratory information regarding the online dating culture on campus. Results indicate that contrary to gender stereotypes, males and females venture online for similar reasons while females have higher expectations to hook up on campus (through non-online meeting) than do males. Jewish students expected to meet other Jewish partners through online dating platforms more so than other religious affiliated students. Students with married parents expected to marry someone within the same religion and also expected to form serious relationships from on campus dating. Higher rates of students of divorced or separated parents expected “hooking up” (over forming a serious relationship) as an outcome of meeting others through online dating platforms. I discuss the implications of my findings in relation to the existing literature on these topics.

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