NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ONLINE DATING

A research paper submitted to the CASE faculty of St. Paul University of Quezon City

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of Degree of Master of Arts in Psychology

Lakhvir KaurBS Psychology

March 2015

INTRODUCTION

Online dating is a form of human courtship consisting of social activities done by two persons (Ames, 2011). It is a way of meeting a potential love interest using the Internet. Online dating systems allow individuals to communicate with each other over the Internet. It is the latest in a series of technological breakthroughs in interpersonal communication however it provokes people to create another aspect of them to portray online.

First of all, extensive online dating can turn into an addiction that kills your precious time (Vyhmeister, 2015). Numerous people exaggerate or lie about who they are that’s why so many people are hesitant to put their complete trust into an online dating. The number of personal relationships occurring via the Internet is increasing as more people gain access to it. Many of these online dating are romantic in nature, and evidence is accumulating that they have the potential to have an adverse effect on existing face-to-face relationships but there are also situations in which having a bad company might or maybe end up having regression, someone who might mislead you, someone who might exploit you.

People who tend to get involved in such relationship tend to forget everything else and sit in front of the computer almost throughout the day; such activities not only affect their other work but their health as well (Vyhmeister, 2015). They tend to stay online for long periods, skipping meals and sleep and avoiding their responsibilities. These individuals also drift away from family and friends and start experiencing drastic mood swings. The worst is when they have a problem with the computer or cannot login to the website, they become highly frustrated and keep on grumbling.

This study explores about the negative effects of Social media through online dating in which it is being used in an unfulfilling relationships to express their sexual selves or obtain sexual gratification easily to unknown person. The goal of this study is to understand negative effects of online dating to the person involved. Furthermore, this study aims to identify present information and practical advice to avoid the negative effects of online dating.

BODY

Online dating is one of the most popular ways to meet a potential person that meets your needs for your ideal relationship (Overton, 2012). The starting idea of internet dating was to get to know someone without knowing what they look like, to create chemistry with another person without considering looks. If you scan those sites you’ll see fake or in another word unrealistic looks of the girls or even boys as their profile picture. Most people will create false information to suit a person that is more likely to get matches or interests. All of them are willing to pretend to be someone else just to get a response. People continue to use these online dating sites not having a clue about the many dangers that can occur. There's no doubt that meeting partners on the Internet is a growing trend. But we can’t trust the information that people provide about themselves via online dating. The scary part about these letdowns is when a criminal or a predator is trying to find a victim to harm (Zonzalez, 2013).

Internet use leads to undesirable psychological outcomes such as depression and loneliness (Mazen, 2012). It is a dating done in Internet which makes people encourage themselves to join in such sites. We all have a standard or maybe an attraction in everyone. Finding a partner in Internet might not meet or maybe not match all your standard in a person you want to be with. Despite the popularity of online dating these sites tend to emphasize similarity on psychological variables like personality and attitudes. The problem with this approach is that such forms of similarity between two partners generally don’t predict the success of their relationship. 

There are many negative effects on online dating. We ca say that there are more negative effects than a positive effects. One negative effect of it is trustworthy problem. Since the real personality of a man or a woman in an online dating relationship doesn’t really know each other, trustworthy problem always exist because each of them might don’t know what is going on in his or her mind. There will always be doubts of harm when they meet to each other. Another problem occurs when someone tries to focus on that kind of relationship in which she or he becomes careless and gradually being hasty or absent-minded in things around them then became doesn’t care at all. One more thing is having this kind of relationship has no guarantee at all because someone will not be serious in it but instead it will be just for fun or for an entertainment for him or her only. Another effect is less communication or loss of human touch to their friends, families and others because of too much attention and busy spending time in Internet and lastly, loss of interest on studies for the reason that they are always wondering in that relationship in which sooner or later affect their grades.

CONCLUSION

Internet has been a great revolution which brings change for the arrival of the information and online dating has revolutionized how people seek romantic partners and initiate relationships with them however, there are some specific things online dating does negative effects on person involved and whoever hook into it need to be careful while using it. Providing information about yourself online take certain risks because it speaks to our fondest hopes. Romantic relationships can begin anywhere and when it comes to online dating , it is great if you find a genuine person but do not waste your time if you feel it is not for you as there are many more options to find a partner. This research suggests that we shouldn’t be so quick to trust those we meet online.

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