Dating Methods and Goals of Russian Students

German Klimenko, Moscow State University

The phenomenon of dating remains insufficiently explored within the scientific discourse in Russia. There is a lack of statistical data regarding the utilization of various dating methods. This study aims to identify the main dating methods and purposes while analyzing the influence of socio-demographic characteristics of Russian students on these factors. A survey was conducted involving 3 838 students from 164 universities across the Russian Federation. Based on factor analysis, dating methods were categorized into two distinct groups, while purposes were delineated into four groups. Influence models were subsequently developed. The following results were obtained: 1) Female participants demonstrate a greater propensity to utilize online dating services; 2) the popularity of online dating services increases with the students' age; 3) male respondents frequently cite both short-term and long-term objectives as their dating motivations; 4) the activity level in seeking relationships escalates with the students' age.

Keywords: Families, Unions and Households, Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Econometrics , Computational social science methods

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