美國：大齡單身上網求愛日漸流行

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 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.

一項研究發現，在網上尋找真愛似乎已經不再是一件令人羞愧的事，尤其是對於大齡成年人而言。

艾奧瓦州立大學的一組研究人員對175對新婚夫婦開展的研究發現，通過在線交友網站或社交網站結識的夫婦通常比通過傳統的“線下”方式結識的夫婦年齡大。

此外，他們是初婚的機率較小，而且在結婚前談戀愛的時間也較短，僅爲18.5個月，而傳統的談戀愛時間是42個月。

艾奧瓦州立大學社會學副教授艾莉西亞•卡斯特說：“在很多情況下，真實存在的‘結構性力量’促進了人們對這些技術的支持和使用。”

她在一項聲明中說：“其中一種力量就是人們時間上的結構性限制，比如有孩子、全職工作或工作時間較長的人。”

不過，通過網絡結識的配偶和在現實中尋得的一樣迷人、聰慧、有自尊。

如今，在線交友網站的受歡迎程度和接受程度越來越高。近日由福布斯網站開展的一項調查評選紐約爲美國最佳單身城市，因爲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。

於2000年創建於美國的eHarmony婚戀網站稱，美國通過該網站結識的會員平均每天有236人喜結連理。

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傑米•麥克卡特尼在三年內對這些夫婦的資料進行了研究。其中25對夫婦通過網絡相識。

卡斯特說：“現在很少有研究能同時獲得通過傳統渠道和通過網絡渠道結識的夫婦的兩手資料。”

Vocabulary:

stigma: feelings of disapproval that people have about particular illnesses or ways of behaving 恥辱；羞恥

tie the knot: to get married 結婚