Just Stats: CU's Dating Report Card
Survey on the Dating Habits amongst College Students
KUMAR ANMOL 2430531
SNEHA CHAWLA 2430564
SHIVIE VASHISHTHA 2430561
SAMARA ISHITA 2430555
PRAGYA PRASHANT 2430575
Abstract
The rise of dating apps has transformed how young adults in India approach romantic
relationships. This study explores the dating habits of college students at Christ University,
analyzing their preferences, behaviors, and perceptions of love in the digital age. Using a
survey with 42 respondents, statistical methods such as measures of central tendency,
dispersion, and Karl Pearson’s correlation were applied to interpret the data. The findings
reveal a strong correlation between social media usage and changes in relationship
perception, with a significant number of students comparing real-life relationships to those
portrayed online. The study highlights gender differences in dating app usage and attitudes
toward casual versus long-term commitments. While dating apps provide new opportunities
for connection, they also influence expectations and perceptions of love. The research sheds
light on evolving relationship dynamics among young adults in an increasingly digital world.
Introduction
Dating in India has seen a transformation within the last decade. This being largely attributed
to the rise in dating app users. These apps have implied a change in how individuals,
especially young adults, view the concept of love and how we behave and relate to one
another. Historically in the Western context, dating was used as a forethought for selecting a
partner, however, individuals of the current generation adopt it as an experimental strategy,
seeking compatibility (Villanueva, 2015). In Indian society, relationships were born out of the
familial approval of a partner. The culture of relationships was based on arranged marriages,
where elders of the family approve of a partner belonging in similar socio-economic classes
as oneself. With the advent of globalisation and post-pandemic, the youth of India have
pressed for more autonomy against this practise, and are adopting the western culture of
using dating apps to find a potential partner.
The dating market has undergone a paradigm shift with the advent of dating apps.
This study looks at the dating preferences of college students. Over the last decade, dating
websites have seen a boom, with the total number of users from India, increasing from 16.10
million in 2017 to 26.78 million in 2023 (Parekh, 2024). This can be attributed to the easy
access to the internet and the changes in the perception towards online dating.
Procedure:
In order to conduct this study a questionnaire consisting of 20 questions, excluding name and
class, was circulated to individuals studying in Christ University. The questionnaire aimed at
finding the dating habits of students studying in the university. Along with preferential
questions it also seeked to find popular dating apps used by these individuals, and the hours
they spent on social media. The questions were designed using a likert scale in order to
quantify the experiences had by these people. The study used statistical measures such as
central tendencies, measures of dispersion, and correlation to understand the data. Karl
Pearson’s correlation was used to measure the strength and direction of a linear relationship
between the variables.
Sample:
This questionnaire was circulated to students of Christ University, and reported back 42
respondents. Out of which, 19 respondents identified as female, and 23 identified as male.
Analysis
Measures of Central Tendency:
Measures of central tendencies provide a basis to understand the data. It highlights the main
characteristics present in a dataset which helps us identify patterns and trends that allow us to
draw conclusions and make assumptions about the data. In our study we used these measures
to find relevant information from the dataset which helps to identify trends in the dating
habits.
Fig 1.1: Number of users on dating platforms
The following graph represents the number of individuals who are currently using dating
websites, and those who aren't. Out of a sample of 42, 32 (76.19%) reported to have used
dating websites. Whereas, 7 (16.67%) reported that they have never used dating websites,
and 3 (7.14%) reported to have downloaded dating apps but haven't used them. A rise in the
usage of dating apps is a result of shrinking social circles, urbanisation, and changes in
societal norms.
Dating Websites Used by Individuals:
Fig 2.1: dating websites and the number of people using them
The following graph showcases the number of users across 3 different dating websites:
Bumble, Hinge, Tinder. The data reveals that Bumble has the most number of users (24),
followed by tinder (21), and hinge (15). The data also showed 7 participants who have never
used dating apps before, and five users who have used other dating apps besides the three
aforementioned. Bumble is a relatively preferred dating method due to its features, which
include a woman-first messaging feature, its stricter policy and privacy systems.
Gender and Usage of Dating Websites:
Fig 3.1: dating websites and the number of people using them
The following graph highlights the significant relationship between gender and dating
websites. From the ones who voted “yes” to being on dating websites, the majority are male.
With 20 out of the 23 who stated that they have used dating apps, identifying as male. Prior
studies on dating habits using online dating websites showcase that there is a higher number
of males than females on these platforms. Prior studies have also noted a significantly higher
usage of dating websites by men in comparison to women, both in frequency and hours spent
(castro et al, 2024).
Positive Responses:
The above charts express the responders agreement on the given statements, reinforcing the
views of youth on romantic relationships. With the entrance of online platforms where people
can share their personal lives with the willing user, and connect with strangers all around the
world, the youths perception on relationships, romantic and platonic change to fit the
narrative. Dating apps bring a huge change into views on relationships, 54.8% of the
respondents agree that there is a change on how the current generation views love compared
to before. And while dating apps are used for scams and catfishing, with 38.1% students
agreeing on the presence of this risk, people are still willing to take the risk to find
companionship.
The constant demand of “perfectionism” and “pure, healthy relationships” from social media
has led to creators to post their relationships in such a light, never mentioning or alluding to
anything bad happening behind the scenes. 42.9% of the responders have agreed that they
do compare their relationships with the ones portrayed in the media. This belief that having
an idealistic relationship is the only valid relationship. This leads to poor communication,
refusal to talk out arguments, refusal of compromise, and inability to see your partner as a
person. These lead to people losing faith in ‘love’ and relationships after a bad breakup, as
seen in the responses where a total of 45% of the respondents agree.
Negative Responses:
Relationships are for the most part composed of both emotional and physical aspects but what
the couple chooses to focus on in their relationship differs from couple to couple. With dating
apps “marketing” people like products for others to pick and choose from to pursue romance
with, it is the norm to judge people by their profiles. Though the majority of 26.2% disagree,
23.8% remain neutral, allowing us to assume that despite disagreement, there is always
some judgement people will have when it comes to searching for someone who you would be
openly vulnerable to and commit to but with casual relationships, people are more
comfortable with anyone familiar and with same intentions.
This has become a trend among the younger generation, a way to have companionship and
pleasure without the requirement of committing yourself wholly to another person. Yet, the
above charts show that 18.9% of respondents do not prefer casual relationships and 35.7% of
respondents want a relationship built on emotional connection. These responses can be
attributed to the marriage culture in India and that most people date with the prospect of
marriage. The concept of marriage is an important event and its importance and necessity has
been reinforced in each upcoming generation by the previous generations.
Yet, just because the event of the union of two people is revered and celebrated does not
mean the relationship between the spouses is always happy. 84% of the respondents
remained neutral while 94.5% of the respondents disagreed with wanting their
relationship to be like their parents.
Neutral Responses:
The Responses in the following charts vary greatly and are considered neutral due to the
diverse responses provided. The sorted data showcases mixed responses but when looking at
this through gender, we understand the variation in responses more clearly. Male respondents
believe that they would be able to find serious and lasting relationships in college and
through dating apps while female respondents do not believe that they’d find lasting
relationships. We can assume that women prefer moving to a different environment not
related to their work or education to get a partner if given the choice while men are open
relationships despite the environment.
Judging intellect by chosen courses would not yield the results one would aim for as each
course requires its own special skills. But due to the surrounding stigma of humanities and
the favouritism of science, engineering, and now even commerce, people still judge others on
the courses they choose to study, bringing it to an extent where people rather not involve
themselves with those in a course they don’t deem “satisfactory”. 31% of respondents
strongly agree that they do judge based on course and that is due to the aforementioned
stigma that is still prevailing.
The mixed responses are mixed even when looking at the responses gender wise. It is
extremely varied with differing opinions from multiple people. Adding height to one’s
profile, talking to multiple people at once in the talking stage, or learning a new skill to
impress your partner are all dependent on the individual’s personal belief system. 19% of
responders would want to learn new skills to impress their partners but 21.4% believe that
it is not required to impress or continue a relationship. In the same way 21.4% of the
responders are comfortable talking to multiple people in the talking stage as they have not
formed a concrete emotional bond with any one person while the 23.8% don’t feel
comfortable doing so as they’re looking at the person they’re in the talking stage with as a
prospective partner.
Correlations in the study:
Correlation is the measure of an association between variables. Correlated data shows the
magnitude of 1 variable with a change in the other. This can be either in the same direction
indicating a positive correlation or in the opposite direction which shows a negative
correlation. In this study, we found three positives which were highly correlated.
Social media and Relationship perception:
Our research suggested a high positive relationship between those who answered with
“strongly agree” and “agree” in the questions “I’ve compared my real life relationships to
those I see on social media” and “I believe dating apps are reshaping how my generation
views love.” The analysis showcased a correlation of 0.91 between these two variables.
It also showed that the individuals who spent more time on social media apps (more than 6
hours) also strongly agreed to comparing relationships with those they see on these apps.
With a strong positive correlation of 0.82. We can infer that social media is actively changing
the perception and expectations we have. Individuals believe the relationships they see online
must translate into the relationships they maintain in their personal lives, which also supports
existing research that highlights the influence of social media on dating. Hence, a positive
correlation suggests that people view relationships as strongly influenced by social media
consumption.
Since the correlation is highly positive, the data is scattered very tightly.
Physical attraction and casual relationships:
The study also indicated that those who placed higher for preference of physical attraction
over emotional connection, also preferred casual relationships over serious long term
connection. The usage of dating apps as a forum to build relationships supports this further. It
showed a correlation of 0.88, indicating a high positive relationship. This is also reflected in
the fact that dating apps are the primary means by which romantic relationships are initiated.
Research evidence indicates that individuals who use dating apps extensively are likely to
prioritize physical characteristics, making quick decisions based on profile photos at the
expense of more substantial aspects of personality. This is consistent with the swipe culture
that dominates modern dating, where fleeting attraction and instant satisfaction are given
greater value than the creation of long-term emotional connections.
Commitment and Committing:
The study also reveals that there's a positive correlation of 0.89, between those who prefer
casual relationships over long term commitments and those okay with romantically
interacting with more than one person at the same time. One of the key drivers of this trend is
the spread of social media and apps for dating, through which people can interact with
multiple partners at once. With multiple options staring them in the face, people are less
inclined to make a choice about one, singular relationship, and thus become less inclined to
demand exclusivity. In addition, attitudes toward casual dating will probably be linked with
those who endorse items like "I like to have several romantic relationships at the same time"
and "Monogamy seems to be outdated in today's world." The questionnaire also indicated that
the participants were more inclined toward non-exclusivity when they were worried about
becoming emotionally attached or losing their personal freedom.
Skewness:
Overall, the data exhibits both positive and negative skewness, meaning it is not perfectly
symmetrical. However, the negative skewness dominates, as more variables (especially key
ones like "Prefer taking my time getting to know someone before dating them" and "Believe
dating apps are reshaping how my generation views love") are left-skewed.
This suggests that respondents tend to lean towards higher ratings for aspects like taking time
before dating and believing that dating apps are reshaping love. At the same time, there are
some right-skewed variables (e.g., "Have added an inch to my height on my profile"), which
indicate that a small number of people provided higher ratings in those categories.
Hence in conclusion, the data has a slight overall negative skew, meaning responses tend to
be more concentrated towards higher values, but with some right-skewed variables balancing
it out slightly.
Measures of Dispersion:
Measures of dispersion tell us how spread out the data points are in a dataset. It helps to
understand the variability in the data.
Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation is used to indicate the spread of observations of the data set. It observes
the deviation of the data set from the mean. If the data points are further from the mean it
shows a higher deviation and if it is closer to the mean it shows a lower deviation. In relation
to the Likert scale a low Standard Deviation would mean a higher consensus in responses
while a high Standard Deviation means that the responses are more varied and diverse from
each other. By knowing this we can now calculate the SD and see how much it deviates from
the mean and the variation in responses from the respondents.
Moderate to High Deviation:
The responses gained in the following questions vary greatly from each other ranging from a
standard deviation from 1.59 to 2.18, having the most deviation from each of the mean for the
following questions.
1. I'm willing to learn a new skill just to impress a potential partner
2. I believe it's possible to find a serious relationship in college
3. I’d rather date someone from a rival college than Christ University
4. I’d judge my partner’s intellect based on their Christ University course
5. I'm okay with being in the talking stage with multiple people at the same time
6. I believe dating apps are a great forum for finding genuine connection
7. I believe dating apps are a great forum for finding genuine connections
Low Deviation
The following responses for these questions are low in deviation due to a strong consensus.
Majority of responses are focused on one end of the scale with minimal variation. The
standard Deviation varies from 0.89 to 1.49, showcasing the least deviation from each of the
mean of the given questions.
1. Compared real life relationships to those seen on social media
2. Prefer physical attraction over emotional connect
3. Dating apps are full of catfish
4. Believe dating apps are reshaping how my generation views love
5. I prefer taking my time getting to know someone before dating them
6. I judge people exclusively by their profiles
7. I questioned the validity of love after a bad dating experience
8. I aspire my relationship to be like my parents
9. I prefer casual relationships over long time commitment
Limitations:
● Qualitative data:
Due to the subjective nature of the study, quantifying this data becomes difficult.
Along with which, the usage of likert prohibits the application of mean. An in depth
analysis would consist of both quantitative and qualitative methods of collecting data
to back up the claims made by the study.
● Socially desirable answers:
The stigma associated with dating apps makes individuals to be less honest about their
feelings and association with these apps. Which leads them to give socially desirable
answers. This coupled with questions that could potentially be considered invasive by
few, such as the preference of physical connection over emotional or I judge profiles
exclusively by their pictures, allows individuals to provide responses they believe will
make them more socially desirable.
● Sample size:
The size of the sample being on the smaller scale does not allow the data collected to
be generalised to the larger population. A larger sample size allows for a more
comprehensive study which allows for generalizability.
CONCLUSION
This study gathered primary data from Christ University students on their dating habits and
described, analysed, interpreted and reported the findings on the usage of dating apps and the
current perception on relationship, intimacy and preferences of university students. Through
our findings we found and analysed the gender differences in dating app usage and attitudes
toward casual versus long-term commitments. We see strong correlation between social
media usage and changes in relationship perception, finding the majority of students
comparing their real life relationships to the idealistic ones portrayed in media. We find that
these comparisons often lead to an unhealthy mindset and unhealthy relationships with people
and this toxicity can lead to a downfall in an individual’s personal life.
Social media and dating apps are made for efficiency and ease of communication but do have
their negative effects when young minds easily influenced are the main consumers of these
products.
References
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Mangesh Lad, S. (2024). Evolution of a new normal in dating culture: Analysing digital dependency
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adults in India. Heliyon, 10(3). [Link]
Jiménez-Muro, A., Ramos-Villagrasa, P. J., & Castro, Á. (2024). Dating app users: Differences
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Appendix: Questionnaire
Do you use any dating websites?
How much time do you spend on social media?
What dating app have you used?
I’ve compared my real life relationships to those i see on social media
I prefer physical attraction over emotional connect
I'm okay with being in the talking stage with multiple people at the same time.
I'm willing to learn a new skill just to impress a potential partner
I believe it's possible to find a serious relationship in college
Dating apps are full of catfish
I’d rather date someone from a rival college than Christ University
I’ve added an inch to my height on my profile
I believe dating apps are reshaping how my generation views love
I’d judge my partner’s intellect based on their Christ University course
I believe dating apps are a great forum for finding genuine connections
I prefer taking my time getting to know someone before dating them
I judge profiles exclusively by their pictures
I’ve questioned the validity of love after a bad dating experience
I aspire to have a relationship like my parents
I prefer casual relationships over long time commitments