It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive to everyone’s lives in many different ways. Whether it’s the way people work or see their friends and family, commonplace routines that we took for granted have shifted considerably. The same is true for dating. Whereas pre-pandemic, people stacked their calendars with as many dates as they could fit in without burning out, today people are cautiously swiping right. Many are hesitant to meet up for fear that they might catch the dreaded virus and pass it on to someone else. Many others choose to include their vaccination status in their bio, with the caveat that they will only go for dates with others who are fully vaccinated.

Dating and Disease

Is this surprising? Not really, and a 2017 study conducted by a group of psychologists at Montréal’s McGill University confirms this. They looked into whether people’s dating behavior would change if they were worried about the risk of infectious disease, or if they would simply brave the consequences of potentially deadly illness in the interests of finding a partner or getting laid. The study consisted of a 15-item questionnaire that asked several hundred male and female participants their feelings about contagious illness-related questions such as “It really bothers me when people sneeze without covering their mouths.” The questions were part of a test called the perceived vulnerability to disease scale, or PVDS.

The results found that those who were more scared of catching an infection disease, showed less interest in prospective mates and casual dates. This was true regardless of how attractive the dates were. While this might sound obvious today, it was quite surprising at the time, when COVID-19 or other pathogens weren’t even a blip on the radar. But the reasons are well-known to evolutionary psychologists, who believe that humans evolved to become unconsciously wary of infectious diseases. This in turn encourages a set of behavioral patterns that would reduce the likelihood of catching an illness from another person. This diffidence might look something like avoiding eye contact, remaining closed, and not being willing to touch or stand close to other people.

Yours or Mine?

In terms of actually meeting up, COVID-19 has changed the game too. Whereas before, people were quite happy to meet up at a bar, restaurant, concert, or gig, those options are no longer on the table. Going for long walks and meeting in a park became the new go-to activities. However, when the weather turned cold, it wasn’t always possible to brave the elements and take a stroll in a blizzard. This inevitably meant that first dates had to take place in someone’s apartment. This raised all sorts of questions. Has the date been in contact with many people and been flouting the contact restrictions? When was the last time they had been tested? Were they sick now? And on top of that, was the invitation to come to someone’s flat an instant invite for sex, as might have previously been the case in more normal times?

The Future of Dating

Luckily, these considerations might be a thing of the past. With the vaccination programs ramping up rapidly in countries all over the world, and towns and cities emerging from lockdowns at a rapid pace, there’s hope that the dating scene will return to some sort of normality. It’s no secret that dating apps surged during the worst of the pandemic when human contact was at an all-time low, and now it seems as though those numbers are here to stay. On top of that, with skin-to-skin contact no longer the deadly threat it once was, people are more desperate than ever to meet up and touch. The past might have been dark, but the future of online dating is certainly bright.