Dating And Romance: What Has Changed For
Young Adults?

Young adult romance is far different today than it was even a few decades ago.

From sleeping over, cohabitating before marriage, and bringing social media into the dating process, the young adult trends are changing the way relationships work. While these trends may seem to make things more exciting, they may not be the most beneficial for both parties involved. Many young adults consider their relationships to be one of the biggest stressors in their life. Are these young adult trends to blame?

How Do Young Adults Date?

One of the biggest trends in young adult relationships is to sleep over at one another’s homes several times each week. For some, this is a precursor to cohabitating, but this is not always the case. Tyler Jamison, a researcher in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies has proven that this sleeping over (leading to the relationship being called a “stayover relationship) are a growing trend among young adult couples who are committed, but not interested in loving together. This may not necessarily affect future commitment or marriage decisions, but it is certainly a popular trend. This relationship trend allows both partners to enjoy the intimate comfort that comes with a relationship, yet still maintain their own personal space. Furthermore, this affects the decline in marriages taking place today. More young adult couples are choosing to cohabitate, rather than become legally married.

Yet another popular dating style for young adults is to bring social media into the relationship. It is very common for partners to use social media sites to check on someone they used to date, even if they are currently in a relationship. Couples look at one another’s social media profiles before committing to a relationship. They also make dating less anticipatory, since they can find a date for the evening with just a few taps on one’s cellphone’s touchscreen interface with applications like Tinder. Statistics have shown that 7% of cell phone application users (which is only 3% of all adults) claim to have used a dating application on their cell phone. These cell phone users are more likely to be teens to young adults, since they have grown up in a technology-heavy era.

What impact does social media have on dating and relationships?