The Development of Online and Offline Romantic Relationships: A Turning Point Study by Sophia W. McDowell
Several general comparisons of the online and offline groups were made. Both groups consisted predominantly of women, but sex differences were more common in the online group. The offline group had twice as many males (30.4%) as did the online group (17%) (c 2 = 5.17, df = 1, p <.05). The online group was also older (M = 27.72, SD = 8.81) than the offline group (M = 22.96, SD = 6.63), and this difference was statistically significant (t = 4.43, df = 202, p < .001). The two groups’ racial make-up was not significantly different, however, their marital status was (c 2 = 21.25, df = 1, p < .001). This difference was primarily due to the much greater number of divorced participants (n = 24) in the online group than in the offline (n = 3). The online group (M = 21.09, SD = 15.34) also reportedly spent significantly more hours on the Internet than did the offline group (M = 13.98, SD = 18.66) (t = 2.99, df = 204, p < .01). In addition, online partners reported having significantly more concurrent romantic relationships (M = 1.42, SD = 1.26) than offline partners (M = 1.14, SD = .61) (t = 2.02, df = 203, p < .05).