View source for Matchmaking

{{Short description|Process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage}}
{{Distinguish}}
{{About|the profession/tradition of marital matchmaking in different world cultures through history|information about modern methods of matchmaking, such as online dating|Dating|Information about matchmaking in online video games |Matchmaking (video games)}}
[[File:Gerrit van Honthorst - De koppelaarster.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Gerard van Honthorst]], ''The Match-Maker'' (1625)]]
{{Close Relationships}}
'''Matchmaking''' is the process of pairing two or more people together, usually for the purpose of [[marriage]], in which case the intermediary or matchmaker is also known as a '''marriage broker'''. Matchmaking may be done as a profession for a fee or it may be done by clergy.

The term is also used in the context of other analogous pairing activities, such as with sporting events such as boxing, in business, [[Matchmaking (video games)|online video games]] and in pairing [[organ donor]]s.

==Practice==
[[File:Pn-museum-2001-05-visitors.jpg|thumb|Traditional matchmaking is a usual folk program in Russian museums.]]
In some cultures, the role of the matchmaker was and is quite professionalised, and matchmakers charge a fee.
===Jewish cultures===
Historically in [[Ashkenazi]] Jewish families, a professional marriage broker, called a [[shadchan]], used "[[gossip]] and a corresponding sense of [[discretion]]" to "diplomatically scop[e] out the pool of possibilities and securing alliances between families—for a fee."<ref>{{cite web |last=Joselit |first=Jenna Weissman |date=14 February 2018|title=The Rise and Fall of Matchmakers: How Jewish marriage brokers lost their standing, outside the Orthodox world|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-matchmakers|website=www.tabletmag.com |location= |publisher= Tablet|access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref> Shadchans, who could be men or women, "functioned like good-will ambassadors" between families. Jewish matchmaking grew as a result of the unrest caused by the Crusades in Europe. Violence, destruction, and death in the Jewish communities interrupted social life so the shadkhan played a pivotal role in connecting people. In this way, the Shadkin protected and maintained the continuity of the Jewish people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodman |first=Hanna and Phillip |title=The Jewish Marriage Anthology |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |year=1965 |isbn=9780827601451}}</ref> By the late 19th and early 20th century, the shadchan lost their social standing and they were "vilified for having commercialized affairs of the heart", and they became ridiculed in literature for their "guile" and they were seen as symbols of an "outmoded" way of life.<ref>{{cite web |last=Joselit |first=Jenna Weissman |date=14 February 2018|title=The Rise and Fall of Matchmakers: How Jewish marriage brokers lost their standing, outside the Orthodox world|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-matchmakers|website=www.tabletmag.com |location= |publisher= Tablet|access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref> By the late 1930s the "Jewish marriage maven became more of a curiosity" than a serious element of matchmaking in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last=Joselit |first=Jenna Weissman |date=14 February 2018|title=The Rise and Fall of Matchmakers: How Jewish marriage brokers lost their standing, outside the Orthodox world|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-matchmakers|website=www.tabletmag.com |location= |publisher= Tablet|access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref>

===Other cultures ===
The [[Hindu astrologer]]s were often thought to be essential advisors and also helped in finding right spouses as they had links and a relation of good faith with the families. In cultures where [[arranged marriage]]s were the rule, the [[astrologer]] used stars to sanctify matches that both parents approved of.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}  [[Tarot divination]] has also been employed by some matchmakers.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

[[Social dance]], especially in frontier North America, the [[contra dance]] and [[square dance]], has also been employed in matchmaking, usually informally. However, when farming families were widely separated and kept all children on the farm working, marriage-age children could often only meet in church or in such mandated social events. Matchmakers, acting as formal [[Chaperone (social)|chaperone]]s or as self-employed "busybodies" attended such events and advise families of burgeoning romances.{{fix|text=tone?}}{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}

The influence of such people in a culture that did not arrange marriages, and in which economic relationships (e.g. "being able to support a family", "good prospects") played a larger role in determining if a (male) suitor was acceptable, is difficult to determine.

[[Clergy]] probably played a key role in most Western cultures, as they continue to do in modern ones, especially where they are the most trusted mediators in the society. Matchmaking was certainly one of the peripheral functions of the village priest in Medieval [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] society, as well as a duty of [[rabbi]]s in traditional Jewish communities. Today, the [[shidduch]] is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] communities.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}

In the 2010s and 2020s  there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional matchmaking. Dissatisfaction with [[dating app|dating apps]], television shows like ''[[Million Dollar Matchmaker]]'' and ''[[Indian Matchmaking]]'', and a pandemic that made it harder for singles to meet organically created increased interest the role of the professional matchmaker. Those who find dating systems or services useful but prefer human intelligence and personal touches can choose from a wide range of such services now available. These services may rely on [[personality tests]] (but [[genetics]] has even been proposed),<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2008/07/22/ok-we-have-our-first-dna-based-dating-site-genepartner/ Ok, We Have Our First DNA-Based Dating Service: GenePartner], by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch, on July 22, 2008.</ref> aiming to maximize the identification of the best match.

===In Asia===
[[File:Wedding Party Photo at Meiji Shrine Tokyo.jpg|thumb|Matchmakers sitting on either side of the bride and groom in this Japanese wedding photo]]
In [[Singapore]], the [[Social Development Unit]] (SDU), run by the [[city-state]]'s [[government]], offers a combination of professional counsel and dating system technology, like many commercial dating services.  Thus the role of the matchmaker has become institutionalized, as a [[bureaucrat]], and every citizen in Singapore has access to some subset of the matchmaking services that were once reserved for [[royal family|royalty]] or [[upper class]]es.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}

As of July 2023, there were 50 Iranian dating agencies according to Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.irna.ir/amp/85130591/ | title=معاون سازمان تبلیغات اسلامی: ۵۰ مجموعه همسان‌گزینی مجوز فعالیت گرفتند - ایرنا }}</ref>

==Other uses==
===Business===
The concept of matchmaking is also used in the business world, as the analogous goal of pairing compatible partners is used. It may be called [[business to business]] (B2B) matchmaking, investor matchmaking, business speed dating, or brokerage events. In contradiction to social networking approaches, in-person meetings between business people are used. [[Trade fair]] organizations find this concept an added value for their exhibitors because it gives them the opportunity of advanced planned meetings. Following the inspiration of dating sites, some online B2B networking platforms developed business matching approaches people to identify potential business partners.

===Sports and recreation===
Some sports leagues have matchmaking services to help players of sports find compatible playing partners.

==Further reading==
*Hill, F. (2023, August 11). The new old dating trend. ''The Atlantic''.

*Sharabi, L. L. (in press). Love, (un)automated: Human matchmaking in the era of online dating. ''Journal of Social and Personal Relationships''.

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Anonymous matching]]
* [[Dating agency]]
* [[Genetic matchmaking]]
* [[Collaborative filtering]]
* [[Mail-order bride]]
* [[Marriage market]]
* [[Matrimonial website]]
* [[Stable marriage problem]]
* [[The old man under the moon]]: fabled Chinese matchmaker
* [[Pattern matching]]
* [[Novertur]]: Business matchmaking platform
* [[Khatba]]s: Traditional Egyptian matchmakers
{{div col end}}

;People
* [[Robert Stewart Sparks]], Los Angeles City Hall matchmaker, 20th century
* [[Nelle Brooke Stull]], founder and president of the Widows' & Widowers' Club, 20th century

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Wiktionary-inline}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}
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[[Category:Matchmaking| ]]