Considering the online dating culture today, finding love feels like an endless swipe-right maze with too many options, blurry lines, and that nagging “What are we?” question. That’s when 6-7 dating, Gen Z’s cheeky new label, is becoming popular on TikTok and Instagram. It’s not about fireworks or fairy-tale obsession. Instead, it’s picking someone who’s a solid 6 or 7 out of 10 – which means kind, reliable, emotionally safe, but without the drama. Tired of situationships and burnout in relationships? This dating trend swaps spark-chasing for peace, proving that stability is what long-term love is made up of:
What exactly is 6-7 dating?
Picture rating your connection and new potential partner on a scale: A “10” means they are perfect, just like the all-consuming crush from ‘The Notebook’ or ‘Bridgerton’. Thrilling… until it’s toxic. A 6-7, on the contrary, is comfort food for the heart—consistent texts, real kindness, and no mind games. It sits in that sweet “in-between” spot: Not perfect, yet not problematic. Feels good enough without the rollercoaster ride of a toxic relationship.
Gen Z seems to get it– Endless scrolling on dating apps leads to constant and unnecessary comparison. And one flaky date after another leaves you emotionally drained.
Why hunt for perfection, which is too good to be true, when a dependable human offers stability? As one TikToker put it, “I’d take a 6 who shows up over a 10 who ghosts. ”
Ditching the myth of a perfect partner
Pop culture sold us grand gestures about love: Ryan Gosling in the rain, Mr. Darcy’s brooding stares. While our parents’ generation preached us “compromise” in relationships, and millennials chased intensity. Now Gen Z flips the script. They know that dating fatigue is real—with too many options on apps, social media flaunting ‘couple goal’ perfection. All of this, results to burnout from hookups that fizzle fast.
6-7 dating, on the other hand, teaches us to stop settling for chaos disguised as passion. Instead, choose a partner who is mature, predictable, and truly there. Not the hottest or flashiest, but the one who listens after a crap day. It’s maturity disguised as “mediocre”—because long-haul love thrives on respect, not fireworks.
Commenting on the pros of this dating trend, Bruce Y. Lee M.D., M.B.A. wrote for Psychology Today, “One positive thing this trend might do is reset a person’s expectations as to what a good relationship should look like… This trend could also help people look deeper for the right match, past all that superficial looks and false confidence. “
However, the negatives of the 6-7 dating trend include, “the biggest problem and oversimplification of the 6-7 dating trend is that it presents people as “either-or” propositions.
They’re either hot or dependable, very attractive or emotionally available, get you very excited or are stable. It suggests that people behave well only because they are not desirable enough to get away with bad behaviour—that everyone would act like a bleep-hole if they could. The added implication might be that people who are “less attractive” will always be easier to deal with, because they have fewer dating options,” Lee further wrote.
What are your views on the 6-7 dating trend? Do you think such relationships can survive the test of time? Tell us in the comments below.
