The relationship between love styles and digital dating outcomes: A multiple mediation test of the perceived importance of dating feature scale

The current study investigated whether the importance participants attached to certain features in a romantic interaction mediated the link between love styles and online dating attitudes and love styles and digital dating behavior. Single, never-married participants (N = 602) rated the importance of five dating features that occurred during relationship development: 1) chemistry 2) intimate and fast self-disclosure 3) large field of availables 4) absence of deception and 5) control over the dating interaction. In addition, participants completed measures pertaining to love attitudes, online dating attitudes, digital dating behavior, and a chart measuring how often participants used seven communication media to achieve nine relationship-specific behaviors. The perceived importance of the five dating features mediated the relationship between each love style and digital dating behavior. The perceived importance of the five dating features did not mediate the relationship between each love style and online dating attitudes. The perceived importance of Absence of Deception did not mediate any of the six multiple mediation models that predicted digital dating behavior. The perceived importance of Field of Availables, Chemistry, and Control mediated the relationship between both Pragma and Mania, and digital dating behavior. The remaining four multiple mediation models that tested the relationship between each love style and digital dating behavior were mediated by a different combination of the perceived importance of dating features. Exploratory analyses indicated that the perceived importance of dating features mediated the relationship between each of the six love styles and the nine relationship-specific behaviors measured in the Digital Dating Chart-Revised. Within each multiple mediation model that tested the relationship between the same love style and a relationship-specific behavior, the same dating features were consistently significant mediators. Implications of the current study findings are discussed.