India: Why young Indians are anxious about dating

The Statesman via Asia News Network

16:00 JST, December 3, 2022

Dating has always been correlated with how people feel about themselves, especially for Indian youth. A steady dating life is directly proportional to their self-worth.

In recent times, online dating has proved to be a boon, allowing users to meet and connect with new people. But with the rise in dating, there is also a higher chance of dating anxiety among young people and one primary cause is rejection, especially in the online dating world.

The increased chances of finding love and companionship come with an increased possibility of facing rejection.

Also, in today’s era, the traditional approach to romantic relationships has drastically changed, and more people are now opting for open relationships. However, these changes have made many people feel insecure about what value they hold in a relationship, leading them to overthink and stress.

Ravi Mittal, CEO and Founder of QuackQuack, a dating app, said, “Body image issues have also been at their peak in recent years. One primary cause of anxiety, whether they are trying it out online or in the real world, is their appearance. 28% of female users mentioned feeling exhausted trying to look beautiful at all times on social media and their dating profiles. There is a lot of unwarranted focus given to the way people look, and to the young and vulnerable, it can very well be anxiety-inducing.

“Indian young people are seen to use dating to improve their social standing. For example, if you get a number of matches per day, you are a ‘player’ and are desired by all. It is also one of the leading causes of dating anxiety among young people who do not get a higher volume of matches.”

He further added, “There’s also a general lack of confidence in them, which is one of the leading causes of dating anxiety. It possibly stems from how much people focus on pretending to be someone who would be desired by all rather than being their authentic selves. 34% of young Indian daters mentioned feigning interest in things they had no idea about in their pursuit to impress a match.”

While commenting on the same, Sybil Shiddell, country manager at Gleeden said, “The fact that more and more people today are losing faith in the concept of monogamy. According to an internal survey conducted by Gleeden in January 2022, 55% of Gleeden users pondered, ‘monogamy, a social obligation,’ while the remaining 45% who still believe in it, however, affirm that monogamy is possible only in certain circumstances.

“People are afraid of commitment and do not want to tie themselves to a single partner. True love is growing to be a myth, and our ‘Contemporary societies have only made this worse.’

“Moreover, experiences from past relationships and disappointments in the love life further add to the anxiety of dating. Even then, it is important to understand that one cannot take away from the fact that everyone has emotional needs, and uncertainty attached to a person is completely normal.”

She further added, “For many, achieving this balance or accepting when to hold on and when to let go of a person causes a feeling of uncertainty towards dating. This is a universal situation but has started to be widely seen in the Indian dating scene these days and is a prime reason why we see such disparities in commitment levels.”