For the second time, The Dartmouth polled undergraduate students on their current relationship status and views on campus dating culture and flitz — “flirty blitz,” or email — habits, among other topics. The following three sections detail survey participants’ responses.
Section 1: Relationship Status
First, students were asked to identify their current relationship status. Of the responses, 55% of students reported being single and 32% reported that they were in a serious relationship. Of the remaining students, 4% of respondents listed their relationship status as “exclusive but not dating,” while 6% of respondents had a “complicated” relationship status. Three percent of students reported that they were “hooking up.”
When asked whether they were satisfied with their current relationship status, 43% responded in the affirmative, 31% responded no and 26% were neutral. Of the students who are single, only 19% of respondents were satisfied with their status. This rises only slightly to 21% when looking at students who are exclusive but not dating, in complicated relationships or hooking up. For students in committed relationships, 94% were satisfied with their status, while 6% felt neutral or unsatisfied.
Section 2: Campus Dating Culture
When asked what relationship type they have engaged in most frequently, 33% of respondents replied with long-term relationships. Thirteen percent, meanwhile, reported that they engage in casual relationships the most, while 20% said they mostly hook up. The remaining 34% of students replied they have not engaged in any form of relationship during their time at Dartmouth.
Of the 66% of students who reported having experienced some form of relationship at Dartmouth, half of students have engaged mostly in long-term relationships, and the remaining half have participated mostly in non-committed relationships — that is, hook-ups or casual relationships.
However, when polled about what they believe is most common among Dartmouth students, 14% of respondents believed long-term relationships to be more prevalent, while 69% of respondents thought casual relationships were most common. The remaining 16% thought there was no difference or were unsure. These results indicate that casual relationships are perceived to be far more prevalent than they may actually be.
Section 3: Flitzing and Finding Love
Respondents were asked to select all of the ways in which they have met a current or past partner. The most common selections were through mutual friends (37%), Greek life (27%) and classes (16%). As demonstrated in the figure, other responses included club and/or intramural sports and extracurricular activities.
When asked whether they have sent or received a flitz, respondents had widely ranging answers. Eighteen percent of respondents have sent a flitz to a significant other, and 16% of students have received a flitz from a significant other. Thirty-five percent of respondents have sent a flitz to someone they were not in a relationship with, and 34% have received a flitz from someone they were not in a relationship with. Finally, 45% of students have never sent or received a flitz.
From Feb. 11 to Feb. 23, The Dartmouth fielded an online survey of Dartmouth students on their opinions and experiences with relationship culture at Dartmouth. The survey was sent out to 4,480 undergraduate students through their school email addresses. Three hundred and nine responses were recorded, resulting in a 6.9% response rate. Using administrative data from the College’s Office of Institutional Research, responses were weighted by gender and race/ethnicity. Weighting was done through iterative post-stratification (raking). Survey results have a margin of error +/- 5.0 percentage points.
