Recent survey finds that millennials, Generation Z show increased interest in committed relationships

A recent survey from the dating website Match.com has shown that single individuals of Generation Z and millennials are more interested in committed relationships than ever before, according to a press release.

Helen Fisher, a member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology and chief scientific adviser of Match.com, discussed the survey’s findings.

Every year for the past decade, Fisher conducted a survey with Match.com called "Singles in America," which consisted of 200 questions ranging from how many times single individuals have fallen in love to what they had for lunch.

She said that she compared singles’ attitudes before and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with data collected from July and August 2021, and noticed that dependability was a much more highly-valued trait among single individuals in 2021 than prior to the pandemic.

“Stability is the new sexy — the bad boy's out, the bad girl's out and you’re looking for a really solid partnership,” Fisher said. “Now I don’t think you’re going to get married very soon. You’re going to be very careful about that. But I think you’re beginning to settle down.”

The survey showed that 81 percent of single individuals in Generation Z and 76 percent of single millennials want a committed relationship within the next year, compared to 55 percent of a general population of 5,000 singles, she said.

Fisher said that this is “slow love,” with single individuals taking their time to get to know each other, date and get married. This is especially true for millennials and those in Generation Z, she said.

While this trend existed before, she said the pandemic significantly slowed down the dating process and heightened Generation Z's and millennials’ desire for a stable relationship, which is partly due to the fact that these generations matured and went through the most post-traumatic growth compared to others.

“You can’t lock up a whole pile of people for almost two years and have them come out the way they came in,” Fisher said. “And the way they came out is immeasurably more mature.”

Another major finding of the survey was that 73 percent of single individuals indicated that they received a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 64 percent of the general population. She said this was surprising because one may think that married couples might push each other to get vaccinated.

Fisher said that single individuals are getting vaccinated in order to attract a healthy partner.

“(One thing) they’re advertising is 'I’m a good community member. I’m not only doing this for me, but I feel responsible for the entire community so that we get herd immunity and (COVID-19) can stop spreading,'” she said.

In regard to the factors that contribute to slower relationships, Fisher said that an increased percentage of women today prefer slow courtships in order to advance their education and career goals before marriage.

Fisher said she expects to see the same trend next year, with people remaining interested in stability and working on their own health.

“Next year, we’ll basically see the same trend: slow love, people interested in commitment,” she said. “But I do think you’re going to want to continue to go out with people who’ve been vaccinated.”