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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Older Adult Online Love: Internet Dating (Research, Video 3:59)


Believe it or not, the Internet is a good place to find out about the current status of older adults looking for romantic love. If you think they aren’t searching for love there in substantial numbers, you probably aren’t aware of numerous websites with a specific focus on meeting their matchmaking needs. I know several older adults myself who have found love on the Internet, but I’m also aware of some horror stories.

Older women looking for romance with men are at a particular disadvantage due to the shortage of eligible men available to them. Should they lower their standards or keep them high? After all, many older women are happier with lifestyles free of romantic obligations? What about men with the advantage of choosing from a much wider pool of women? How selective are they? Do older adults approach romance in a different manner than younger adults?

Research on older adults and romance was undertaken by the Department of Psychology at Georgia Southern University to determine these answers. They compared Internet dating profiles of 100 older adults and 100 younger adults. These results give insight into how older adults are approaching romance these days:

1)   Older adults, especially older women, were more selective than younger adults when it came to age, race, religion, income, and height of a prospective dating partner.

2)   Older adults were willing to travel substantially farther than younger adults to meet the right partner.

Note: My personal research at a popular matchmaking website indicated that many older adult men want women at least five to ten years younger than they are. That certainly doesn’t help older women, especially those who are more energetic and vibrant than most women and men their age.

What does all this research say about older adults in their search for love? They are eager to find that special someone, but not willing to settle for just anyone. Apparently, age and experience have made them pickier.

The older adult couples in this video from The Early Show met online and have been successful in finding love. Some older adults however, do find online meeting to be distrustful because potential dates don’t always tell the truth about themselves. Others still want to try to find soulmates there and not give up. All four couples who met online and married thought there were advantages in meeting on the Internet such as being able to ask more questions and getting to know more dating candidates faster. What about you? Would you try Internet dating? Do you have an Internet love story to share?




Frances Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers in America and other countries and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

8 comments:

  1. My mother isn't all too young. She's happy though and loves all the home care she's able to receive, but she was wanting someone to be by her side, someone to love. She used an online dating site and actually started dating. A lot. I was shocked, because I thought that with so much going on her life, she wasn't very interested in finding love. But, she did. And the two of them still receive home care, but are happier than ever.

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  2. Thanks, Amelia. That's a great testimony for finding online love.

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  3. This is a very interesting subject, Frances. There's a lot of considerations when it comes to older adult dating, such as health issues, cognitive problems, etc.

    I actually wrote a story in this regard, based on a nursing home resident I had once. Should you want to read it, here is the link:

    http://doris-socialworker.blogspot.com/2011/02/five-years.html

    Thank you for this great post!

    Doris

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  4. That's a good story, Doris. It reminds me of another couple. I know a woman who met a man online who told her when they started dating that he had a terminal illness. They continued to date anyway with up and downs, and he encouraged her to get married. They were engaged for about a year, and finally broke up. Yes, there are a lot of considerations such as health issues.

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  5. A very heart warming video. I hope when I'm a senior citizen I find love as easy as that :)

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  6. I think there should be some social community sites especially for the senior citizens. They can find some special friend who can be his/her moral support for the rest of life. I think it will be really great thing, as they can find their love of young ages after so much decades.

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  7. nice video.... thanks for sharing your video...

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  8. I'm amazed that there is an adult online dating wherein older people had given a chance to look for their partner despite of their older ages. Older adult dating is quiet complicated because we all know that as we get older lots of health disorders are encountered. We should also take in consideration the mental disorders that older people experienced.
    I do hope that they already met their young love at the right time:)

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