eHarmony Launches eHarmonyLabs
Team of Five PhDs Lead Research on Dynamics of Marriage and Relationships; Relationship Researchers From Top Universities Join Advisory Board
Pasadena, Calif. – February 5, 2007 – eHarmony, the Internet’s #1 trusted relationship service, today announced the launch of eHarmonyLabs, becoming the first online relationship service to launch a commercial research organization dedicated to the study of human relationships. eHarmonyLabs will research the initiation, growth and maintenance of life’s most important relationships, and leverage its findings to bring to market new products and services designed to improve the health and longevity of those relationships. The lab, led by a team of five PhDs with expertise in the fields of psychology, sociology and human relations, reflects eHarmony’s academic roots. The company’s patented eHarmony Compatibility Matching System, is based on the first National Study of Marriages conducted in the late 1990s.
eHarmonyLabs will focus on conducting in-person and virtual research with the goal of understanding the processes that make relationships successful, from their inception through the entire lifecycle of marriage and family. The 2000 square-foot facility features four observational rooms and a state-of-the-art digital video control room. Online research will be conducted using a wide range of new assessment instruments to evaluate the development of self in the context of social relationships. eHarmonyLabs will disseminate its research findings through academic publications and forums and www.eHarmonyLabs.com.
“Establishing this research facility is a milestone toward our goal of becoming the world’s leading relationship company,” said Gregory Waldorf, CEO. “eHarmonyLabs will have the full support and resources it needs to make significant contributions to the field of relationship research while breaking new ground in the field. This academic-level research will also enable us to develop unique services that will enhance the relationships of people throughout the world.”To ensure continued scientific excellence, eHarmonyLabs has formed a Scientific Advisory Board. This multidisciplinary, world class panel of scientists includes: Thomas Bradbury, PhD (UCLA), John Cacioppo, PhD (University of Chicago), David Kenny, PhD (University of Connecticut), Bruce McEwen, PhD (Rockefeller University), and Linda Waite, PhD (University of Chicago). For biographies visit, http://www.eharmony.com/labs/advisory.
“Too often important relationship research findings are disseminated to only a small audience of academic researchers and are not reported to the general public,” said Dr. Galen Buckwalter, Vice President of Research and Development. “In this environment where important knowledge is not widely known many unqualified individuals can and do deliver advice and guidance that has little – if any – scientific support.” Buckwalter added, “eHarmonyLabs will conduct and support top caliber research and educate the public about important relationships research by disseminating findings, reports and results widely, frequently and accurately. By uniting academia and science, we will also be able to develop services that will improve relationship functionality.”
The first study conducted under the auspices of eHarmonyLabs, directed by Dr. Gian Gonzaga, is studying the phenomenon of interpersonal chemistry. Single couples after completing extensive online questionnaires, are meeting in-person for the first time in the eHarmonyLabs observational laboratories. After meeting the couples rate their chemistry, or the initial feeling that they really “clicked” with the person. This is the first appropriately designed study of this central aspect of intimate relationships. “The inability to predict who will and who will not experience chemistry,” reported Dr. Gonzaga, “has been a crucial missing link in online relationship services. Our ability to include chemistry in our matching models will be a decisive advance in helping people build successful relationships while also contributing to academic relationship science.”
eHarmony is one of the few successful products developed entirely by academic researchers using accepted scientific techniques. In 1997, Dr. Neil Clark Warren, co-founder of eHarmony, began collaboration with Dr. Galen Buckwalter, then a Professor at the University of Southern California. Together they developed the first National Study of Marriages. Soon joined by Dr. Steven Carter, the team’s research identified the pattern of profiles between husbands and wives that was consistently associated with the most successful marriages. This research was the basis for the now patented eHarmony Compatibility Matching System™ and has served as the foundation for a new generation of relationship research through the auspices of eHarmonyLabs.
The eHarmonyLabs research team includes: Galen Buckwalter, PhD (Vice President, Research & Development), Steve Carter, PhD (Sr. Director, Research & Product Development), Patrick Giordani, PhD (Director of Matching),Gian Gonzaga, PhD (Sr. Research Scientist), Erina Lee, PhD (Research Scientist), and Heather Setrakian, MA (Project Coordinator/Research Associate). For biographies visit, http://www.eharmony.com/labs/research.
About eHarmony Labs
eHarmony Labs is the only industry laboratory of its kind researching the initiation, growth and maintenance of life’s most important relationships. In-person research is conducted within a laboratory setting, featuring four observational rooms and a state-of-the-art digital video control room. eHarmony Labs is comprised of a staff of five PhD researchers, all of whom are recognized experts on human relationships.
