Associate Professor Dr. Yue Qian and PhD Student Manlin Cai published a new article, titled “Gendered age preferences for potential partners: a mixed-methods study among online daters in Shanghai,” at Chinese Sociological Review. Situated in Shanghai, this mixed-methods study analyzed data from 5,888 dating profiles and 29 interviews with online daters.
The study found online daters expressed highly-gendered age preferences for potential partners both in their profiles and in the interviews. Moreover, in-depth interviews revealed that gendered age preferences were rooted in China’s societal norms, which included the package deal of marriage and childbearing, gendered family roles, and the stigma around single women and men past a certain age.
“The study’s findings have important implications for gender dynamics and family change in China. Gender asymmetry in age preferences may contribute to further increases in marriage delay and non-marriage in China”
As a new technology, online dating is often thought to symbolize modernity, autonomy, and freedom in mate selection. Technology alone, however, does not transform the age-old expectations and the gendered preferences for mates that arise. With fewer constraints from the digital world, online daters freely express and potentially stick to gender-related stereotypes and expectations. Therefore, online dating likely reinforces existing gender- and age-based hierarchies in China’s marriage market.
“Greater efforts need to be made to promote gender egalitarianism and facilitate a change toward gender-symmetrical patterns of mate preferences.”
