From Online Dating to Marriage: A Multi-Stage Model of Intimate Relationship Development among Generation Z in Nanjing

This paper examines how Generation Z in Nanjing, China, moves from online dating toward marriage. Unlike studies that focus only on matching efficiency, personal preferences, or platform algorithms, this study understands online dating as a relationship-development process embedded in family ethics, social evaluation, and digital platform structures. Based on data from thirty Generation Z participants in Nanjing, including semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the paper analyzes how participants present themselves on platforms, screen potential partners, build trust, respond to parental opinions, and ultimately judge whether a relationship can enter marriage. The study finds that the transformation from online dating to marriage is not a simple linear process from matching to marriage, but a multi-stage, recursive, and continuously negotiated process. This process broadly includes five stages: online interaction, offline meeting, relationship deepening, family involvement, and marriage decision-making. Each stage is jointly shaped by three forces: intrapersonal drivers, socio-cultural drivers, and technological platform drivers. Intrapersonal drivers involve intimacy needs, identity exploration, self-presentation, and marriage preparation; socio-cultural drivers involve filial piety, parental approval, peer evaluation, age pressure, and economic compatibility; technological platform drivers include algorithmic recommendation, filtering functions, identity verification, platform labels, and interaction rules.

Online dating; Generation Z; Marriage; Identity formation

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