Development and Validation of the Mobile Dating App Gratification Scale: Effects of Sought Gratifications on User Behavior and Outcomes

Mobile dating apps were created to meet the needs of Millennials, who tend to be more interested in casual relationships than serious dating. Despite their popularity, research has found that dating apps are not being used for their intended purpose. Two studies were conducted to develop and validate a scale for mobile dating app gratifications and to determine how individuals’ behavior varies based on their sought gratifications. Results indicate that there are four primary mobile dating app gratifications (Validation, Entertainment, Relationships, and Hookups) and that they vary between genders. Individuals who seek different gratifications also engage in different behaviors while using the app and achieve different relational outcomes. The study highlights implications for future research and additional use of the Mobile Dating App Gratification Scale

Sexy and I Know It: Attachment Orientation and Romantic Confidence on Dating Apps

Romantic confidence is central to relationship initiation. Though previous studies have found that anxiously- and avoidantlyattached individuals differ in their romantic self-concept, none have examined these variables in an online dating context. The current study examined the associations between attachment orientation and dating app users' romantic confidence, perceived partner availability, and relationship initiation behaviors on dating apps. A student and nonstudent sample completed an online survey. Contrary to our expectations, attachment anxiety was positively related to romantic confidence on a dating app and perceived partner availability, whereas attachment avoidance was negatively related to these outcomes. These associations persisted after controlling for perceived number of dating app matches

Predictors of Revictimization in Online Dating

Introduction. While a significant association between childhood maltreatment and sexual victimization in adulthood has been established in previous research, it is unknown whether this also applies to the context of online dating. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether revictimization is common in online users and which mechanisms mediate this risk Method. The participants were 413 heterosexual women aged between 18 and 35 who used mobile dating applications in the year before the assessment. The participants reported information on using mobile dating applications, motives for engaging in casual sex, protective dating strategies and general motives for online dating. Results. Childhood maltreatment severity was positively related to both cyber and in-person sexual victimization severity. Motives related to regulating negative affect and self-esteem mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment severity and in-person sexual victimization severity in adulthood. Furthermore, those motives moderated the association between cyber and in-person sexual victimization. The effect of cyber victimization on in-person sexual victimization was stronger at higher levels of affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives compared to lower levels. The affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives were not related to protective dating strategies. Discussion. The results of the study imply that a history of childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for sexual victimization in adulthood among young heterosexual women who use online dating. One of the factors linking these variables in this population might be affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives. Future studies should aim at replicating these associations prospectively

Do young dating app users and non-users differ in mating orientations?

In recent years, dating apps have changed the way people meet and communicate with potential romantic and/or sexual partners. There exists a stereotype considering that these apps are used only for casual sex, so those apps would not be an adequate resource to find a long-term relationship. The objective of this study was to analyze possible individual differences in the mating orientations (short-term vs. long-term) between users and non-users of dating apps. Participants were 902 single students from a mid-size Spanish university, of both sexes (63% female, and 37% male), aged between 18 and 26 years (M = 20.34, SD = 2.05), who completed a battery of online questionnaires. It was found that, whereas dating apps users had a higher short-term mating orientation than non-users (more frequent behavior, higher desire, and more positive attitude), there were no differences in the long-term orientation as a function of use/non-use. Considering this, dating apps are a resource with a strong presence of people interested on hooking-up while, simultaneously, not a bad (nor good) option for finding long-term love

Anxiously Searching for Love (Among Other Things): Attachment Orientation and Mobile Dating Application Users' Motives and Outcomes

This study explores how attachment orientation (i.e., people’s characteristic approach to close relationships) is associated with dating application (app) users’ motives and outcomes. We collected data from 395 current dating app users. Regression analyses showed that attachment anxiety positively predicted all dating app motives, whereas attachment avoidance positively predicted traveling, but negatively predicted pass time/ entertainment. Logistic regression analyses showed a decreased likelihood for people with higher scores on attachment anxiety to meet up with oth

From swiping to casual sex and/or committed relationships

To better understand if and how the mechanics of the process Tinder imposes on its users (i.e., swiping, matching, and starting conversations) influences the resulting sexual or romantic interactions, we collected data from 1038 Belgian Tinder users. Our findings show that a user's swiping quantity does not guarantee a higher number of Tinder matches, women have generally more matches than men and men usually have to start a conversation on Tinder. Moreover, while conversations were positively associated with reported offline Tinder encounters, less than half of our sample reported having had an offline meeting with another Tinder user. Whereas more than one third of these offline encounters led to casual sex, more than a quarter resulted in the formation of a committed relationship. Such findings indicate that Tinder is not “just a hookup app”, as often assumed in public discourse. We argue it is plausible that sexual encounters will eventually lead to committed relationships in a society where initiation of relationship formation with dating has been replaced by hooking up

Are men intimidated by highly educated women? Undercover on Tinder

In this study, we examine the impact of an individual's education level on her/his mating success on the mobile dating app Tinder. To do so, we conducted a field experiment on Tinder in which we collected data on 3,600 profile evaluations. In line with previous research on mating preferences from multiple fields, our results indicate a heterogeneous effect of education level by gender: while women strongly prefer a highly educated potential partner, this hypothesis is rejected for men. In contrast with recent influential studies from the field of economics, we do not find any evidence that men would have an aversion to a highly educated potential partner. Additionally, in contrast with most previous research - again from multiple fields we do not find any evidence for preferences for educational assortative mating, i.e. preferring a partner with a similar education level

O PAPEL PREDITOR DAS ATITUDES E USO DO TINDER PARA O COMPORTAMENTO SEXUAL DE RISCO

Estamos na era virtual, as relações amorosas estão perpassadas pelo contexto digital, portanto, o estudo objetivou analisar como as atitudes frente ao Tinder e o uso do Tinder predizem o comportamento sexual de risco (CSR). Participaram 262 pessoas (M = 24,27; DP = 5,37). Os resultados das correlações entre comportamento e Uso, Comportamanto e Atitudes, ainda a relação entre Uso e Atitudes frente ao Tinder foram positivas e significativas. As regressões indicaram que maior Uso de Tinder e Atitudes mais favoráveis a plataforma predizem o Comportamento Sexual de Risco. Portanto, a pesquisa exploratória demonstra indicativos do caráter preditivo de Atitudes favoráveis e Uso frequente do Tinder em realizar Comportamentos Sexuais de Risco.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio