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Papersocarxiv · 8/15/2026
Love at First Swipe: Online Dating and Relationship Outcomes in Europe
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This study uses harmonised Generations and Gender Survey data across nine European countries to compare relationship trajectories of unions formed via online dating versus other means, examining dissolution, marriage, childbearing, satisfaction, and break-up consideration. Results show country-specific patterns, with higher dissolution hazards in Austria, Estonia, and Croatia, lower in Germany, and generally lower marriage and shared childbearing among online-dating unions (notably in Croatia and the UK), while relationship quality differences are less pronounced. The findings indicate that online dating's association with relationships is more about institutionalisation and family formation than uniform quality differences, and no consistent pan-European pattern emerges.

Abstract
This article examines whether unions formed through online dating differ from other unions in relationship trajectories across nine European countries. Using harmonised Generations and Gender Survey data, I estimate country-specific survival and current-union models for union dissolution, marriage, shared biological childbearing, relationship satisfaction, and break-up consideration. Adjusted dissolution hazards are higher in Austria, Estonia, and Croatia, lower in Germany, and not significant elsewhere or among recent unions. Among surviving unions, online dating is more often associated with lower marriage and shared childbearing, especially in Croatia and the United Kingdom, than with poorer relationship quality. Overall, online dating appears more strongly associated with how unions are institutionalised and converted into family life and the findings do not support the idea of a uniform pan-European relationship difference associated with online dating.
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