A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Social Networks and the Internet on Relationship Formation

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SES-0751876Michael RosenfeldStanford UniversityThe sociological literature on mate selection in the US dates back to the Great Depression and the post World War II era, when most Americans married in their early 20s to spouses they met in high school or in their neighborhoods of origin. Several factors have fundamentally changed the mating market in the past 50 years in ways that require a new, in-depth study of how people meet their mates. First, Americans are now marrying later than ever before. Second, the life course of young adulthood is now a more complex and winding road including travel away from home and college education. Third, the types of families young adults form seem to be changing- witness the rise of interracial marriage and same-sex unions. Fourth, new technologies such as the Internet provide new ways of meeting romantic partners. Fifth, research from Europe suggests that recent marriage cohorts have met in different ways from their parents and grandparents. This project gathers new nationally representative data on how couples meet. The survey of couple formation includes detailed questions about when, where, and how couples met, and what social connections or institutions (such as family, school, or work) brought them together. The study of how couples meet will be followed by one and two year follow-ups with all couples identified in the initial study. The first study will provide data on different types of couples and how they met (for example: through the Internet, through family connections, through church, or through work). The follow-up studies will determine couple dissolution rates (i.e., breakup rates). The data on couple dissolution will enable scholars to determine how legal status (civil unions, for example) affects couple stability for same-sex couples.The study will collect new information not only on how couples meet, but also on the question of whether couple dissolution rates vary by how couples meet. These data will be publicly available through ICPSR (Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research) and Stanford University website..