#Relationshipresearch

A groundbreaking global study across 50 countries, involving more than six thousand participants in romantic relationships, finds that couples who meet online tend to report lower relationship satisfaction and less love than couples who meet offline. The researchers say the pattern is robust across cultures and ages, even after accounting for a range of background factors. The lead author notes that meeting partners online is related to lower relationship satisfaction and love, a finding that challenges the assumption that the convenience and breadth of online dating automatically translate into better matches or stronger bonds. For Thailand, a rapidly digitalizing society with a growing dating-app presence, the findings raise fresh questions about how online dating fits into the country’s deeply rooted values around family harmony, social trust, and long-term commitment.

New research has revealed that the end of a romantic relationship is rarely a sudden event, but rather the result of a lengthy, two-stage decline in satisfaction that often starts years before a couple officially parts ways. Published in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the comprehensive analysis by an international team illuminates how the unraveling of a romantic bond is a slow process punctuated by a “terminal phase” of sharper decline just before the breakup actually happens (PsyPost).

A new international study shows that relationship endings are rarely abrupt. Instead, satisfaction declines in two stages, often starting years before couples separate. The research, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, reveals a gradual early drop followed by a sharper “terminal phase” as the breakup nears.

For Thai readers, where family bonds and romantic relationships are deeply valued, the findings resonate on a personal level. The study illuminates what happens in the years leading up to a breakup, not just in the final months. As Thailand navigates evolving norms around love, marriage, and divorce, these insights into relationship dynamics are increasingly relevant.