Calcuttans are setting a new standard in dating in India, giving priority to mental health issues and picking up ‘situationship’ as their relationship status. The report, ‘Future of Dating Kolkata Edition’, was unveiled at an event in Salt House with Aahana Dhar, director of communications, Tinder India, throwing light on the six trends spotted among Calcuttans. Sharing the stage with her were city influencer Sinjini Roychoudhury and Joshua Benjamin, a 25-year-old Tinder member. Both of them shared their dating experiences and also talked about what matters to them the most when getting into a relationship. Moderating the fun and insightful talk was model Ushoshi Sengupta.
According to the report, the first interesting finding is that Gen Z in Calcutta prefers to use terminology that doesn’t try to define a connection before they’re ready to, or even want to. So terms like vibing, kicking it, deep liking, and, of course, the word of the season, situationship, align more with how 18-25-year-olds perceive the dating process. In fact, 45 per cent of young singles in Calcuttans pick situationships.
The value of real connection and presenting their ‘true selves’ is high on Gen Z’s agenda when it comes to dating. Case in point is 86 per cent of young singles in Calcutta agree that being aligned on cultural values with a match is important to them. Intellectual stimulation is also an essential criterion with 72 per cent of surveyed singles rating alignment of current affairs and political beliefs with their potential partners as important.
Another finding pointed out that for young singles in Calcutta, top first date of choice, and highest compared to any other city in India is festivals and cultural events. In fact, nearly 30 per cent of them use Tinder in Calcutta to find their perfect match during these festivities. Not just that, 43 per cent believe these cultural festivals are the perfect time to introduce a date to fam and friends, keeping it low-pressure.
Mental health gains priority among Gen Z and the findings reveal that 87 per cent of young singles in the city say that they find matches who prioritise their mental well-being more attractive and 85 per cent say that having a partner who values self care is critical to a happy relationship. It’s no coincidence that 81 per cent say they will never compromise on self-care practices or boundaries for a relationship, the highest amongst all cities in the country.
Lifestyle preferences and interests like shared music taste, compatibility in personality types, mutual love for travel, and a funny dating bio are some of the other factors that make a match most attractive.
The final point reveals that Gen Z is open to finding love in another city or making meaningful connections across borders. About 46 per cent of passport users globally use Tinder’s Passport but don’t travel to the place they have ‘passported to’ directly after, which suggests that Tinder members have a strong interest in exploring possibilities outside their immediate network.
The report is based on a study of 1,000 participants, 18-25-year-old dating singles across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Guwahati between April and May 2023.