Study Shows More Than One Third Of New Marriages Begin Online

(CBS) -- Forget blind dates and singles bars. More than ever, the road to marriage starts at your computer.

And the real bombshell? They may be the best marriages. Roseanne Tellez reports on love and the internet.

Lynnea Koehler remembers when she first met her husband Kevin in person. "I was like, wow! I can't believe this guy really likes me. Wow!" she said.

Recalls Kevin: "I thought she was adorable, loved the red hair."

One recent study shows more than a-third of all marriages- 35 percent - begin like Lynnea and Kevin's did, online. While looks may have attracted them, University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo says there's more to it than that.

"You actually are a little more self-disclosive, more authentic, and end up liking the person more as a result of that than if you meet them face to face. Kind of a surprising finding," said Cacioppo.

"I probably wouldn't have talked to her if I saw her on the street. I'm just a very shy person," said Kevin Koehler.

Lynnea Koehler said, "I think that talking for the time that we did, did take away a lot of the first date jitters and all that awkwardness."

Other studies have found couples who meet online, are more likely to marry. Cacioppo says it could be that dating sites attract people who are more serious about meeting someone.

He also says their marriages are also less likely to break up and.. "those who met online expressed more satisfaction and happier marriages than those offline. I think it's a new world. The good news is, it may be an even better world."

While you might think 20 and 30-somethings are most likely to meet online.. 30- 49 is the average age. T. J. and Kelly Japcon fall into that category.

Kelly Japcon remembered "So he was number 11."

T.J. Japcon repeated "Lucky number."

Kelly says it took time to meet the right person and cultivate a relationship through email and phone calls.

"I would say by the time we met we were almost like old souls almost like good friends," said Kelly.

T.J. Japcon described their first face-to-face meeting.

"I literally did a double take and said, 'Wow. This is going to be fun.'"

Kelly Japcon said, "I started to giggle and said I think that's him."

Kelly and T.J. have been together more than four years now and Kelly's convinced it's all thanks to the internet.

"If I hadn't decided to do online dating, I would never have met T. J.," said Kelly.

"It was good. And it's still good," said T.J.

Kelly agreed.

H"I still get butterflies when she comes home. So I like that!" said T.J.

Cacioppo is a noted researcher, but this study was commissioned by eHarmony. Cacioppo says the dating website agreed that study data would be released no matter what the findings.