Are there any longitudinal studies to follow up these couples?

How long have these "successes" been together? Any longitudinal studies yet????

Good question. I have often wondered the same.

Yep, I wondered myself. It seems like several of the 'success stories' posted on EH boards are people who have met and got married in weeks of first site. I'm a total skeptic of the lasting part of those relationships beyond a year or so...or their happiness of the relationship. However, there are the one in a million kind that last forever with stories like this shot gun weddings that I've been reading about here. Love to hear back in a year or so from these posters.

I have wondered the same thing...what is the "longtem" success rate of these types of relationships...How can you really know a person just from chatting on line a few weeks?

oops.. *longterm

Excellent question. It'd be interesting to see whose still together in a year or two. What happens when the "Honey Moon, he/she is perfect for me" wears off into "Do you always chew food like that?"

There is a 1/29/08 NYT article on online dating services that I was reading earlier today that mentions that eHarmony has begun a longitudinal study comparing eH couples with a control group. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere, too, but don't ask me to remember where!

It will indeed be interesting to see the results (it will be awhile before they are available, though). However, I would expect eH marriages to be more successful anyway for a variety of reasons (e.g., those who join eH are probably more likely than the general population to be committed toward marriage, the higher level of religiosity among eH members overall is also associated with a greater reluctance to divorce, etc.). The researchers will no doubt control for many of these variables through statistical analyses, though, so they can figure out how much of the differences between the eH and control couples can be explained by the eH matching system.

I have seen a few posts by persons now divorced who say they met their spouse on EHarmony. I hope such persons are in a minority.

I too will be interested in see the results of the study. I met my honey on eharmony. We have been together for a little over a year and it still feels like a great fit. I think one variable in all of this is how honest a person is not only with the person they meet on eharmony (or anywhere) but how honest they are with themselves. It really does make a difference. (Knowing what you are really looking for). I will let everyone know in another year.

this is just my theory:

i tend to see ehahaha users as being the very picky types. with that in mind, once they do find a match, i often wonder if they're still on the "look out" for someone better, as their brains have been programed to do so from months, years on ehahaha and from chasing multiple matches to seek their goals. i guess this also goes on in real life as well but probably more so here then there.

what ever happened to "ryan" and "candy" ?!? no more happy threads from them??

I love that you call eHarmony "ehahaha". That's flippin' hilarious.