Any lingering stigma about finding true love online seems to be fading, particularly among older adults, researchers found.
    In a study of 175 newlywed couples scientists at Iowa State University said those who met through online dating agencies, or social networking sites, tended to be older than other couples who met through traditional ways offline.
    
     
    They were also less likely to be marrying for the first time and had shorter courtships before tying the knot -- 18.5 months instead of 42 months.
    "In many cases, there are real structural forces that encourage the support and use of these technologies," said Alicia Cast, an associate professor of sociology at the university.
    "And one of them is just structural constraints on people's time -- such as people who have kids, or have full-time jobs, or work long or extensive hours," she added in a statement.
    But the online spouses were as attractive, intelligent and had the same self-esteem levels of the offline couples.
    Online dating agencies have gained in popularity and acceptability. A recent survey by Forbes.com that named New York as the best U.S. city for singles found it achieved the No. 1 position because it has more people with active online dating accounts than any other city in the country.
    U.S.-based eHarmony, which launched in the United States in 2000, claims an average of 236 of its members marry every day in the United States as a result of being matched on the site.
    eHarmony is also available in Canada, Australia and Britain.
    Cast and her graduate assistant Jamie McCartney studied data on the couples over a three-year period. Twenty five couples in the study had met online.
    "My understanding is that there are very few studies that have been able to simultaneously get access to a source of couples who met through more conventional means, along with those who choose to meet people online," said Cast.
    一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在網(wǎng)上尋找真愛似乎已經(jīng)不再是一件令人羞愧的事，尤其是對于大齡成年人而言。
    艾奧瓦州立大學(xué)的一組研究人員對175對新婚夫婦開展的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，通過在線交友網(wǎng)站或社交網(wǎng)站結(jié)識的夫婦通常比通過傳統(tǒng)的“線下”方式結(jié)識的夫婦年齡大。
    此外，他們是初婚的幾率較小，而且在結(jié)婚前談戀愛的時間也較短，僅為18.5個月，而傳統(tǒng)的談戀愛時間是42個月。
    艾奧瓦州立大學(xué)社會學(xué)副教授艾莉西亞·卡斯特說：“在很多情況下，真實存在的‘結(jié)構(gòu)性力量’促進了人們對這些技術(shù)的支持和使用。”
    她在一項聲明中說：“其中一種力量就是人們時間上的結(jié)構(gòu)性限制，比如有孩子、全職工作或工作時間較長的人。”
    不過，通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)結(jié)識的配偶和在現(xiàn)實中尋得的一樣迷人、聰慧、有自尊。
    如今，在線交友網(wǎng)站的受歡迎程度和接受程度越來越高。近日由福布斯網(wǎng)站開展的一項調(diào)查評選紐約為美國最佳單身城市，因為紐約擁有活躍在線交友帳號的人比美國其他任何城市都要多。
    于2000年創(chuàng)建于美國的eHarmony婚戀網(wǎng)站稱，美國通過該網(wǎng)站結(jié)識的會員平均每天有236人喜結(jié)連理。
    eHarmony在加拿大、澳大利亞和英國也有分支。
    卡斯特和她的研究生助手杰米·麥克卡特尼在三年內(nèi)對這些夫婦的資料進行了研究。其中25對夫婦通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)相識。
    卡斯特說：“現(xiàn)在很少有研究能同時獲得通過傳統(tǒng)渠道和通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)渠道結(jié)識的夫婦的兩手資料。”