How can online dating influence a woman's self esteem?
Self esteem is the confidence of a person on their self worth. It is the negative or positive evaluation of the self, what we think of ourselves. It is the self concept which is an attractive psychological construct as it predicts certain outcomes such as academic achievements, happiness, satisfaction in marriage and relationships, and criminal behavior. Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an enduring personality characteristic, though it is normal, but short-term variations also exist. Self-worth, self-regard, self-respect, and self-integrity are some near synonyms of self esteem. Online dating has a major influence in any person's self esteem. Women are said to be sensitive and emotional and hence online dating has both positive and negative influence on women's self esteem.
What is online dating?
Online dating is a system where people are enabled to find and introduce themselves to their potential connections over the internet usually with a goal of developing personal, romantic or sexual relationship. There are a number of websites and apps for online dating through the use of internet connected computers or mobile devices. Most of the matchmaking made in online dating is usually profile based. Users are allowed to be a member of the dating service by creating a profile and uploading personal information like age, gender, sexual orientation, location, appearance, etc. Some of the apps also ask to add photos or videos. Once the profile is made you can view others profile and personal information and decide whether to initiate contact. Online dating services differ widely in their revenue streams. Some sites are completely free and depend on advertising for revenue, while others offer free registration and use, with optional, paid, premium services.
What are the factors that shape and influence one's self esteem?
Self esteem is your overall opinion about yourself. It has nothing to do with other's perspectives because it is completely what you think of you. When you have healthy self-esteem, you feel good about yourself and see yourself as deserving the respect of others but when you have low self-esteem, you yourself put little value on your opinions and ideas and constantly worry that you aren't good enough. Self esteem starts to form in early childhood. The factors affecting self esteem are as follows:
Your thoughts and perceptions: Self esteem is actually your opinion about yourself, so your thoughts and perceptions matter a lot.
How other people react to you: Those close to you like your family, friends, teachers, etc are important for your self esteem.
Experiences at home, school, work and in the community
Past experience of relationship
Illness, disability or injury
Age: It is seen that people of a younger age have more self esteem than those of older age.
Role and status in society: The way people behave with you or what your position in the society influences your self esteem.
Media messages
What is the influence of online dating on self esteem?
Online dating has both positive and negative influence on anyone's self esteem. If you get your perfect match and your date successfully, it will boost your confidence. But if you get rejection or disappointment, it could negatively affect you. Rejection even if it is online is real and has effects on every individual. While earlier people used to go on real dates and find their partner but nowadays all they have to do is just make a profile and find their match. If you send someone a message which remains unanswered or you date someone for a few days and then you are ghosted afterwards, all these affect your self esteem. Though online dating is considered to be non serious and just a platform where people find a person to have sex with but some people are there who are really in search of a partner and rejection is really painful for them. Women are mostly emotional as compared to men and they get invested in any sort of relationship. If they are ghosted or rejected it affects their mental well being and sometimes they lose confidence in the process.
Though online dating is easy and safe, you never know what is written for you. If you don't take a chance you could never know what's in the store. So give it a try.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/self-esteem/art-20047976
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_dating_service