Smith, MacKenzie R (2024) Protect Yourself and Play it Right: Advice for Online Dating. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
There is a growing body of literature on online dating which explores personality correlations, compatibility and success factors, risks, benefits, and motivations. However, there is a lack of research on what advice people would give individuals for navigating these platforms. The current study sought to address this gap by examining what advice emerging adults would share with close others on the topic of online dating. A large sample of emerging adults (N = 678) were recruited for the study. The overall corpus of data analysed included 444 participants (315 (70.95%) who identified as female, 117 (26.35%) males, and 12 (2.6%) with non-binary or other gender identities; Mage = 20.35, SD = 2.93) who responded to the open-ended question: “What advice would you give to a friend or family member who was thinking about online dating?”. The six phases of thematic analysis outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) were used to analyse participants’ responses to the question. Two themes were identified: Advice against online dating (including subthemes of negatives and protection), and Advice in support of online dating (including subthemes of positives, approach, and practical advice). The majority of emerging adults provided supportive advice for friends and family regarding online dating with a particular focus on practical advice. These findings are discussed in light of current literature and implications for future research.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Dr. Scott, Riley |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2026 01:22 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Jan 2026 01:22 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | advice, emerging adulthood, online dating, online safety |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53116 |
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