16% of British Singles Think Romance is Dead, Says eharmony

According to new research from eharmony, 16% of singles and 15% of married people in the UK believe that romance is dead.

The study was conducted in line with Romantic Awareness Month and looked to get the UK’s opinion on the current state of romance.

Casual dating apps took a portion of the blame, with exactly half of the sample believing that messages sent on such apps didn’t contain any romantic intentions.

Furthermore, 40% of people expressed the opinion that texting was having a negative impact on romance.

38% of those surveyed thought that the naturally busy nature of modern life was getting in the way of romance. Work, family and friends were all cited as getting in the way of being romantic toward a partner.

Emma Kenny, a psychologist who partnered with eharmony on the study, explained to GDI: “With the increasing pace and digitisation of life, we seek shortcuts in getting to know a partner.

“In this, there’s a risk that we communicate as efficiently as possible, ticking off a condensed list of the bare essentials – like looks, location and income – and if that’s not working, we move on.

“It doesn’t allow the space to find more out about one another and dig a little deeper.”

eharmony is known for publishing studies investigating current trends in dating, love and romance. One of its most recent reports looked at ‘casual dating cycles’, and found that 15% of people downloaded a dating app within a week of becoming single.

The dating company also aired an eight-part series on Facebook, called Love Decoded, which broke down certain factors of dating and relationships in the modern era.

Find GDI’s coverage of the Intelligence Squared debate ‘Swipe Left: Dating Apps Have Killed Romance’ in our March Editorial.

Read more here.