Gen Z daters ghost, double text and love bomb more than Millennials, according to the Modern Dating Sindex, a survey Sinless Vodka Cocktails commissioned from Wakefield Research among 2,000 U.S. adults ages 25 to 45. Ghosting hits 79% of Gen Z versus 75% of Millennials, and 92% of daters admit to at least one dating sin on the list.
Gen Z ghosts more, but also calls more fouls
Ghosting is the most common complaint in the survey, with 79% of Gen Z respondents and 75% of Millennials saying they have been ghosted, according to Wakefield Research's data for Sinless Vodka Cocktails. The behavior is not one-sided: 58% of respondents admit they have ghosted someone else, and the average self-reported ghoster says they have left 11 people hanging over their dating life.
Gen Z also reports higher rates of double texting (59% versus 50% for Millennials) and love bombing (55% versus 46%), the survey found. At the same time, Gen Z draws firmer lines than Millennials on smaller offenses: 37% call chronic lateness a dealbreaker versus 29% of Millennials, and 18% will not date someone who refuses to open doors versus 12% of Millennials.
The dating roster is real, and so is cushioning
Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 65%, say they keep a "dating roster" of casual romantic prospects in rotation, the survey found. Within that group, 42% keep a party companion, 39% keep a hookup, and 34% keep a backup date-night option on standby.
A separate 43% admit to "cushioning," meaning they keep other romantic prospects warm in case a current relationship ends, according to the Modern Dating Sindex. The two behaviors overlap in the data, suggesting a meaningful share of daters run both a roster and a cushion at once.
92% of daters leave texts on read. Here's why
A total of 92% of respondents say they have intentionally avoided opening a text they did not want to answer, and 39% say they do this often or all the time, per the survey. Only 16% say they prefer an honest, direct rejection when ending things, while 51% prefer the slow fade.
Digital surveillance runs alongside the avoidance. Wakefield Research found 76% of respondents indulge in at least one dating "guilty pleasure," including monitoring who viewed or liked their content (47%), scrolling years into a match's social media (33%), or investigating an ex (31%).
Behavior
Share who admit to it
Asked a partner their "body count"
32%
Lied about their own "body count"
25%
Ended a relationship before Valentine's Day
20%
Ended a relationship before a partner's birthday
16%
Ended a relationship before their own birthday
16%
Even a perfect match can commit an unforgivable sin
Almost nine in 10 respondents, 88%, agree that a specific behavior can turn an otherwise strong match into a dealbreaker, the Modern Dating Sindex found. Being rude to waitstaff tops the list at 55%, followed by constant phone use at 50%, disliking pets at 36%, and refusing to post the relationship online at 26%.
More than two in five respondents, 42%, say they have strategically ended a casual relationship before a milestone date rather than face it as a couple, according to the survey.
Sinless Vodka Cocktails built the Sindex to match its own pitch
Wakefield Research conducted the Modern Dating Sindex survey for Sinless Vodka Cocktails among 2,000 nationally representative U.S. adults ages 25 to 45, the companies said in an August 27, 2026 release. Kat Hayes, associate director of brand marketing for Sinless, said the data puts real numbers behind dating behaviors people typically only admit to in private group chats.
Sinless Vodka Cocktails is a ready-to-drink line made with real vodka, zero sugar, zero carbs and 100 calories per can, sold in Cranberry, Pineapple, Black Cherry and Peach flavors through the Sinless Vodka Cocktails site. The brand built the Sindex around the same premise as the product itself: naming a common guilty pleasure and stripping the guilt out of it, rather than treating either the drink or the dating habit as something to hide.
The real sin is pretending nobody does this
The throughline across the Modern Dating Sindex is that the behaviors people call "sins," roster-keeping, cushioning, slow fades, digital vetting, are now majority or near-majority habits rather than exceptions. Gen Z experiences more of the negative end of that pattern than Millennials, but also enforces more of its own boundaries around smaller behaviors like lateness and basic courtesy. Wakefield Research's methodology page details how the firm structures PR polling studies like this one for consumer brands.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
