The state of dating heading into 2026

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on some of the dating trends we saw last year. We’re also discussing what these trends might mean for the dating landscape in 2026.

The data we are delving into comes from Dating Advice Site and the Kinsey Institute survey titled this State of America: A National Study of Modern Love and Dating. PhD. Justin Lehmiller and Amanda Gesselman led the study, which gathered responses from 2,000 single adults in the United States whose demographic data were aligned with U.S. Census Bureau data on gender, age, race/ethnicity and geographic region. all data collected in April and May 2025. Here are some key insights from the study:

many people no interested in a relationship

Singles were asked what kind of relationship, if any, they were looking for. Perhaps not surprisingly, most people are looking for some type of relationship in which a committed, exclusive relationship reigns supreme, as shown below. Nearly 50% of men are looking for LTR, as are 43.5% of women.

However, what surprised us about this chart was how many people said they were not currently looking for any Relationship type: Nearly one in five men and more than one in three women. Also, another thing we see here is that men are looking for all types Women are almost twice as likely as men to not seek any relationship.

Honesty is the best policy

Honesty is the number one quality people look for in a romantic partner. When asked to choose the characteristics of a partner that were most important to them, both men and women ranked honesty as the most important factor.

For women, kindness and compassion come next, communication skills come next, and trustworthiness and dependability come next. Physical attractiveness and sense of humor also made the list, but were rated slightly lower than other traits.

The second most desired quality for men is similar, but the biggest difference is that physical attractiveness ranks in the top three for men but not for women (this trait ranks sixth among women). Although both men and women value having an honest and kind partner, men appear to value physical attractiveness more than women.

Get rid of the apps and go “wild”

How do singles prefer to meet their partners these days? Take a look at the chart below to find out.

The vast majority of singles prefer to meet others in person, sometimes referred to as finding a partner “in the wild.”

The chart also tells us that dating apps appear to be on the decline when it comes to finding a partner. In fact, less than 20% of men and 12% of women prefer to meet potential partners on dating apps. Dating app fatigue may cause people to shy away from technology and turn to meeting people in real life.

The rise of celibacy

One of the most surprising findings of the study was how many singles described themselves as celibate by choice, meaning they had temporarily stopped having sex. Specifically, 21.8% of women and 15.1% of men said they chose to remain single.

Additionally, 27.4% of men and 14.4% of women considered themselves to be involuntarily celibate, meaning they wanted to have sex but could not find a partner.

Adding these numbers together, nearly half of single men and one-third of single women today are celibate.

Most singles don’t want artificial intelligence in their dating lives

Considering the explosive development of artificial intelligence in the past year, we would be remiss if we didn’t discuss the application of artificial intelligence in dating. Many people have Turning to artificial intelligence for emotional connection and companionshipwe’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this trend to see how it develops in the coming years.

That said, the survey asked singles how open they are to integrating artificial intelligence into their dating lives. It turns out that most singletons are generally not interested in this usage. When asked if they would consider using artificial intelligence to help with dating, only 7.3% of women said they were interested in using artificial intelligence to improve their sex lives. In addition, only 13.8% of women expressed willingness to use artificial intelligence to find compatible partners, and 12.3% expressed willingness to use artificial intelligence to help establish an emotional connection with their partners.

On average, men are more likely than women to use artificial intelligence in their dating lives. In fact, men are about twice as likely to say they would consider using artificial intelligence to date or enhance their sex lives.

However, the fact that most men and women said they were reluctant to use AI for this purpose may reflect the high value singles place on a partner’s honesty: Most of us want to be with someone who is truly themselves, rather than someone who says all the “right” things just because a robot tells them to.

Dating Trends Forecast for 2026

These findings from the dating world last year All of this bodes well for the dating landscape of 2026, where people are focused on choosing their relationships carefully and carefully.

Increasingly, people no longer feel as much pressure in their relationships as they once did. When they do get into a relationship, they look for someone who is genuine and reliable.

Additionally, while the popularity and use of AI has generally increased over the last year, there appears to be a desire to shift towards artificial intelligence. leave When it comes to dating and relationships, it’s technology. As we enter the new year, more singles will be looking for connections “in the wild.” So if you want to increase your chances of finding a partner, you might want to change your approach if you’re someone who primarily uses apps, which might mean attending some local singles events, joining a social club, or otherwise getting out of your community where organic connections have a chance to arise.

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