Marie Bergström

Researcher
marie.bergstrom@ined.fr
Secretariat : Lucet Foutou +33 (0)1 56 06 22 18

Research field(s)

My research areas include intimate relationships, sexuality, singlehood and online dating.

I’m the principal investigator of the French national survey “ENVIE” on young adults’ intimate relationships carried out in 2023 on a representative sample of more than 10,000 individuals aged 18-29 years. We published the first results in 2024 (https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/34826/623a.ined.en.pdf) and a book is coming soon (spring 2025).
Within the frame of this survey research, I’m particularly interested in casual relationships (e.g “hook-ups”, “sexfriends” and other sexual relationships of the sort), and more generally in the relational organization of sexuality.

I’m an expert on online dating and have been studying the usage of dating sites and apps since 2007. The main results of this project were published in the 2022 book "The New Laws of Love. Online dating and the privatization of intimacy" (Polity Press/Ined Editions), an extended version of a book initially published in French in 2019 (La Découverte). The project is ongoing.

I’m also interested in the measurement and experiences of singlehood, in the process of couple formation and in methodological questions regarding survey research and the use of big data in the social sciences.

Research teams

Fertility, Families and Couples

Gender, sexuality and inequalities

More information about his·her Research

Gender and sexuality minorities

Gender throughout the life cycle

Conjugal relationships and trajectories

Big_Stat

Liens

Bibliography

A word by

Marie Bergström tells us about the notion of the couple in society and the LAT phenomenon.

Read the interview

Some publications

Bergström & Brée, 2023, « Not a Single Meaning: Definition and Evolution of Singlehood in France and the United States », Family Theory & Review. URL : https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12519

Bergström, 2023, Kärlekens nya lagar. Hur nätdejting förändrar våra intima relationer, Stockholm, Fri Tanke, 200 p. URL : https://fritanke.se/bokhandel/bocker/karlekens-nya-lagar/

Bergström & Moulin, 2022, « Couple Formation is Prolonged not Postponed. New Paths to Union Formation in Contemporary France », European Journal of Population, vol. 38, n° 5, p. 975-1008. URL : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36507240

Bergström, 2022, The New Laws of Love. Online Dating and the Privatization of Intimacy, London, Polity, 200 p. URL : https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-new-laws-of-love-online-dating-and-the-privatization-of-intimacy--9781509543519

Bergström, Courtel & Vivier, 2019, « Uncoupled. Experiences of Singlehood in Contemporary France », Population (english edition), vol. 74, n° 1, p. 101-126. URL : https://www.cairn-int.info/journal-population-2019-1-page-101.htm

Bergström & Pasquier, 2019, « Doing Gender Online. Ordinary Practice Beyond Utopian Ideals », RESET. Social Science Research on the Internet, n° 8. URL : https://journals.openedition.org/reset/1804

Bergström, 2018, « What’s behind the age gap between spouses? Big data and the study of age difference within couples », Revue française de sociologie, vol. 59, n° 3, p. 395-422. URL : https://hal.science/hal-03676083v1/file/Bergstrom_whats_behind_the_age_gap.pdf

Teaching activities, other functions, titles

- Co-head of the research unit “Gender, Sexuality and Inequalities” at INED
- Co-head of the research axis “Conjugal relationships and trajectories” at INED
- Head of the research axis “Gender throughout the life cycle” at INED
- Head of the ANR project JCJC « The sexual realities of today’s youth: inequalities, relationships, identities” (JEUNES)
- Principal investigator of the ENVIE survey
- Member of the executive board of the EUR “Gender and Sexuality Studies” (GSST), EHESS/INED.
- Member of the recruitment and evaluation committee at INED
- Member of the editorial board of the journal L’Année sociologique