Relationship confusions are stronger these days. It is not about the partner. It is about the nature of the relationship itself. There needs to be clear if we are going out with someone.
The basic ability to understand in what level or standards of relationship that we have with the opposite person determines a lot in your emotional well being too.
Two terms sound similar in this context but have vast differences in their nature; Dating and Seeing someone. While both sound similar subjectively, they have their dissimilarities if we dive deep.
Key Takeaways
- Dating and seeing someone refer to a romantic relationship, but dating is more casual and open-ended than seeing someone.
- When you are dating someone, you may be seeing other people at the same time, while seeing someone implies that you are focusing exclusively on that one person.
- Dating may be a more short-term arrangement, while seeing someone implies a more severe and long-term commitment.
Dating vs Seeing Someone
The difference between Dating and Seeing someone lies in the intensity of the relationship. Dating is an activity that shall happen if the situation has arrived to discuss the future seriously with your partner. While ‘Seeing someone is the beginning stages of the relationship and in fact, it comes as the first stage of dating.
Dating is a practice that people take as their step towards a romantic relationship. This is a wise practice to meet socially and discuss things more seriously on the related factors.
This meet shall help gauge the suitability on either side to take the relationship to the next step as engagement or wedding.
Seeing someone is pretty casual and initial stages of the relationship. This is the beginning of the relationship, and many times, it can be a one-time affair too. ‘Seeing someone’ stage can be called a crush too.
This can develop either side so that you can date the person for a much more serious relationship.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Dating | Seeing Someone |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It is the stage of the relationship where the couples get to understand each other more seriously. | This is the beginning stage of the relationship and is not as serious as ‘dating’. |
| Discussion Subjects | Financial Stability, Work, family and kids. | Mostly only on the casual side |
| Frequency | If you are dating someone, you might go out frequently. | The frequency is not consistent but sporadic. |
| Stage of the Relationship | This stage is penultimate before the wedding or an engagement, at least. | This is the beginning step for a relationship. |
| Relationship Intimacy | Intimacy levels can be high. | Low compared to ‘Dating.’ |
What is Dating?
Dating is an activity that the couples shall undertake to discuss the future of the relationship. The couples would have known each other for a while.
If someone is dating, then the person should have known him/her for a certain period, as fidelity happens over time.
The relationship stage reaches the ‘dating’ stage only when both of them are comfortable with each other. Moreover, the discussion items shall be entirely in the future. More importantly, about financial well-being, job, relocation, family and kids.
Dating is indeed closely connected with marriage. Though there are many other functions that dating has, this is the serious stage where the couples mean to get married.
This dating affair shall end in negative aspects, too, if either of them or both of them feel that it is unsuitable in certain cases.
In general, ‘dating’ can be termed as a trial period to test whether the relationship works. Dating ensures the below-mentioned steps happen in due course.
- Exploring Possibilities of Marrying each other
- Identifying potential threats in raising a family
- Determining the wedding period
- Areas of improvement in employment
- Materialistic possessions
As you can see, the discussion shall be serious and revolve around making a family.
What is Seeing Someone?
This is a very early stage in a relationship where you are planning to go out with the person you like. It might be two ways many times. But the equal amount of time, it is the one-way traffic.
You might see someone and go out with them on a casual visit to a café. You may like him/her, but that’s just on the budding stage.
The relationship is never serious, and all the talks and gossip will be casual. Seeing Someone can also be classified as ‘having a crush on someone and you are finding the time to tell the person.
This stage is very tender; you might have romantic intentions, and sometimes, both might have the same.
In general, dating someone very casually with no serious intention can also be called ‘Seeing someone. But, most of the time, it is the inner feeling of liking the person who urges you to go out with them.
The level of commitment in this stage towards the relationship is very minimal to zero.
When you see someone, the visits and meetings can be inconsistent. It can be very little. But there are instances where the couples would like each other and would like to spend time with one another.
This is the stage that can help you take it to the next level in your relationship. The next shall be dating.
Main Differences Between Dating and Seeing Someone
- The main difference between Dating and Seeing Someone is the stage of the relationship. Dating is considered to be the penultimate step before a wedding, and seeing someone is just in the budding stage of the relationship.
- The intensity of the relationship is stronger during ‘dating’ when compared to ‘seeing someone.’
- You tend to discuss more serious stuff during dating that shall give concrete outcomes about your future if you are going to be together, seeing someone has very casual talks and nothing serious about anything.
- Dating is the stage reached only after a period of knowing each other while seeing someone stage has just begun
- The intimacy in a relationship is high in terms of dating while Seeing someone has lower intimacy compared with ‘dating’.
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07458402017004005
- https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/71363110.pdf
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