Marriages tend to go flat. Doing something exciting together helps.
A national study that followed married people for 17 years found happiness tended to slide at every stage.
Relationship growth science
The Bloom blog.
Writing from Bloom on intentional dating, lasting relationships, and how we are building a dating app that grows with you.
41 posts, page 1 of 4
October 2026
8 posts
When a dating app changes owners, look at what it charges for
Bumble agreed to be bought by Ithaca Holdings and go private.
Lifecycle / anti-cheating
Who pays on a first date, and what the check is really asking
A survey of 17,067 unmarried heterosexual adults found most men still pay, most men feel guilty when they do not, and women are split almost evenly on whether they want their offer to be taken.
Dating and relationship advice
Open to either is not a plan
In a Pew survey of 4,860 US adults, most singles who were looking said they were open to either a relationship or something casual.
Intentional dating
A thank-you that lasts until tomorrow
Your partner does something small and thoughtful.
Relationship growth science
What 'invite a friend to unlock' does to your matches
One dating site randomly varied how many friends new members had to bring in before they could read their own messages.
Lifecycle / anti-cheating
Magnanimity is a relationship skill, not a temperament
Researchers treat forgiveness as a change of motive, less pull toward revenge or distance, more pull toward goodwill, often after you can see the other side.
Dating and relationship advice
More options, worse choices: what choice overload does to dating
When researchers handed online daters more profiles, people searched more and picked a worse match to their own stated preferences.
Intentional dating
September 2026
4 of 7 posts
Your dealbreakers do more work than your wish list
Across six studies and more than 6,500 people, the traits participants wanted to avoid pulled harder than the traits they hoped to find.
Intentional dating
The question after a breakup is readiness, not a waiting period
After a breakup, someone will hand you a number of months.
Dating and relationship advice
Friends beat the feed in Utah
On the Wasatch Front, a named friend intro still beats an anonymous feed.
Utah
A situationship has the affection. The research says it does not have the commitment.
An exploratory 2024 study defined situationships as affection, sex, and time together without a label or much commitment.
Dating and relationship advice
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