Elizabeth Bruch - How Cities Shape Our Romantic Lives

When: 2021-11-01 14:00-16:00 (Tallinn time)
Where: CUDAN Open Lab (online)

The event was public via zoom.
Website: https://mhbsd.net/

Abstract – Social scientists have long been interested in how social life is different in large cities as compared to villages or small towns. Within popular culture and the press, there is also a longstanding belief that a person’s romantic fortunes depend on the city they live in. However, this idea has not been subject to close scientific scrutiny. In this talk, I will present results from an analysis of on mate seeking behavior on a popular online dating site in the United States. This work shows that not only do singles' romantic experiences differ across cities, but their mate seeking strategies are aligned with the demographic makeup of those cities. In other words, cities don’t just shape our experiences, they shape us. When moving between cities, a mate seeker will adapt their mate seeking strategies to align with their new dating environment. I discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of dating markets, as well as classic theories about how social environments shape human experience.