How the timing of texting triggers romantic interest after the first date: A curvilinear U-shaped effect and its underlying mechanisms
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In: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 43, No. 2, 02.2026, p. 570-593.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - How the timing of texting triggers romantic interest after the first date
T2 - A curvilinear U-shaped effect and its underlying mechanisms
AU - Teichmann, Lars
AU - Petrowsky, Hannes M.
AU - Boecker, Lea
AU - Soliman, Meikel
AU - Loschelder, David D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
PY - 2026/2
Y1 - 2026/2
N2 - How and why does the timing of texting after a first date impact people’s relationship intentions? Based on previous literature, we developed and empirically tested three competing predictions—a linearly positive, a linearly negative, and an inverted U-shaped effect—of text timing on relationship intentions, perceived chemistry, and motivation to translate their relationship into action. We also explored the underlying mechanisms (i.e., thoughts about the sender, relative mate value, perceived neediness of the other, reciprocity, and perceived reliability of the sender). Based on a pre-study (N = 100), we determined the experimental manipulation with texting (a) immediately after the date, (b) the next morning, or (c) after two days. The main experiment (N = 543) showed a curvilinear effect: texting the next morning led to the highest relationship intentions. Women were more sensitive to these text timing effects than men. Mediation analyses highlighted the roles of perceived reciprocity and reliability in influencing relationship intentions, perceived chemistry, and motivation.
AB - How and why does the timing of texting after a first date impact people’s relationship intentions? Based on previous literature, we developed and empirically tested three competing predictions—a linearly positive, a linearly negative, and an inverted U-shaped effect—of text timing on relationship intentions, perceived chemistry, and motivation to translate their relationship into action. We also explored the underlying mechanisms (i.e., thoughts about the sender, relative mate value, perceived neediness of the other, reciprocity, and perceived reliability of the sender). Based on a pre-study (N = 100), we determined the experimental manipulation with texting (a) immediately after the date, (b) the next morning, or (c) after two days. The main experiment (N = 543) showed a curvilinear effect: texting the next morning led to the highest relationship intentions. Women were more sensitive to these text timing effects than men. Mediation analyses highlighted the roles of perceived reciprocity and reliability in influencing relationship intentions, perceived chemistry, and motivation.
KW - attractiveness
KW - dating
KW - Love
KW - romantic relationships
KW - texting
KW - Management studies
KW - Psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105024795380&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/02654075251377184
DO - 10.1177/02654075251377184
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:105024795380
VL - 43
SP - 570
EP - 593
JO - Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
JF - Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
SN - 0265-4075
IS - 2
ER -