The Structure of Digital Partner Choice

A Bourdieusian perspective

Andreas Schmitz author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Springer International Publishing AG

Published:7th Jul '18

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Structure of Digital Partner Choice cover

This work approaches the modern phenomenon of online dating, examining the ways people make use of its technical and social potential. In particular, the users' mate preferences, choices, strategies, and interactions are analyzed using the innovative method of click-stream observations and web-questionnaire data. For the purpose of these analyses, two major theories are used - an explicit theory of individual mate choice, and the more general relational theory developed by Pierre Bourdieu, which helps to highlight the social structures both underlying and resulting from mating online. Results show that online dating is not a partner marker free from social structure, but that the traditional social conditions found offline are also reproduced in this virtual setting. In contrast to the picture drawn by media discourse and advertising, online dating represents a partner market which fulfills the promise of happiness in a socially differential way.

ISBN: 9783319828480

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 454g

219 pages

Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2017