---
title: "Psych News Alert: When It Comes to Romance, It May Be Best to Call It In"
description: It might seem old fashioned, but nothing beats a face-to-face interaction for creating the spark that may lead to lasting love. This accordi...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/valentine_63539110-Jun-24-2025-05-27-09-9959-PM.jpg
---

 2/14/12 12:00 AM

# When It Comes to Romance, It May Be Best to Call It In

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

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It might seem old fashioned, but nothing beats a face-to-face interaction for creating the spark that may lead to lasting love. This according to Eli Finkel, associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University and lead author of a new study on the effectiveness of online and mobile dating to be published in *Public Interest*, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Traditional dating sites like Match.com provide scant information about an overwhelming number of potential mates, while sites that boast the benefit of high-tech matching capabilities may not deliver on what they promise, finds Finkel. Alternatively, looking for love with new GPS-enabled smartphone applications is a much more immediate process, notes Finkel, increasing the chances of an in-person connection. Read more about the research of romance in [*Psychiatric News*](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=109693)  and a book by American Psychiatric Publishing, * [Dreams of Love and Fateful Encounters: The Power of Romantic Passion](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62240). *

(Image: CLM/Shutterstock)

[romance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/romance), [smartphones](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/smartphones)

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[depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [anxiety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anxiety), [burnout](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/burnout), [mindfulness](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mindfulness), [Physician health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/physician-health)

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 7/16/25 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/07/several-interventions-can-effectively.html)

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