Ladies First: The Influence of Mobile Dating Applications on the Psychological Empowerment of Female Users

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: This study was undertaken to shed light on how the use of a heteronormative mobile dating application creates an environment to promote psychological empowerment among female users within the online dating scene. The study focused on a mobile dating application which specifically challenges traditional gender roles, namely Bumble. Background: Mobile dating applications have become an increasingly popular medium for people to meet potential partners. However, users’ pre-existing social norms and biases inform how they communicate on these platforms, and stereotyped judgment about women perpetuates ideologies which continue to oppress them within the cyber world. Despite this, very little research has investigated the experiences of female users of mobile dating applications. Methodology: The study was qualitative in nature, and 10 semi-structured interviews of female Bumble users were conducted. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Contribution: The study contributes to knowledge by highlighting how key features of mobile dating applications influence various aspects of psychological empowerment as articulated in the findings. Findings: The findings show that the Bumble application supports Intrapersonal variables of Psychological Empowerment of female users relative to Domain Specific Perceived Control and Self-Efficacy, Motivation to Control and Perceived Competence. However, Domain Specific Perceived Control can also be negatively impacted due to self-doubt when female users receive little to no matches. Interactional variables of psychological empowerment are also supported, as Bumble allows female users to be critically aware of the need to screen potential partners, understand relevant causal agents, develop skills relative to initiating conversations and mobilize resources. However, Bumble is not effective in supporting behavioral variables of psychological empowerment because of limitations in the tool’s functionality and the behavior of the people interacting on the platform. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings are important as they suggest the need to enhance the features available to female users in order to better suit their needs and desire to take control of their lives in the context of dating and/or friendship. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings reveal the need for a change of perceptions and attitudes on the part of some users to create a safer and more considerate virtual dating space, to truly achieve psychological empowerment. Future Research: More research is required on how male and female users domesticate mobile dating applications and how the use of these applications influence their daily lives from a socio-cultural point of view.

Flirting With or Through Media: How the Communication Partners’ Ontological Class and Sexual Priming Affect Heterosexual Males’ Interest in Flirtatious Messages and Their Perception of the Source

“…This is in line with Guerrero et al (2018) who stated that flirting is not necessarily related to a romantic relationship or sex. Researchers found that being the target of a flirt can be perceived as flattery and interest in the own person, which, consequently, can be associated with positive emotions and a confidence boost, even in a computer-mediated setting ( Hall, 1993 ; Cialdini, 2009 ; Tanner and Tabo, 2018 ). It is likely that this boost of confidence is associated with the fact that flirting also represents a sign of genuine interest in another person ( Hall et al, 2010 ).…”

Forced Empowerment and the Paradox of Mobile Dating Apps

“…"When members of the opposite sex match on Bumble, women are required to make the first move, shifting old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging equality from the start" (Bumble, 2020). In line with Bumble's ambition to empower women, previous research revealed that some women make a conscious choice to use Bumble because of its general reputation for female empowerment (Pruchniewska, 2020;Tanner & Tabo, 2018) but did not focus on the interplay of technological affordances and empowerment. In addition, mobile research suggests that empowerment through technology can inadvertently bring about forms of disempowerment as well (Donner, 2015).…”

“…This study builds on previous work on female mobile dating app use (e.g., Chan, 2018;MacLeod & McArthur, 2019;Tanner & Tabo, 2018), especially by Bivens and Hoque (2018), who used a material-semiotic analysis approach to analyze Bumbles software, self-advertisement, and media coverage regarding its meaning-making of gender, sex, and sexuality with a special focus on how Bumble perpetuates aggressive masculinity, cisgender White women's sexuality, safety, and control in its narrative. In line with this, Pruchniewska (2020) contributes to the women being at risk debate (e.g., Duguay et al, 2020;Hess & Flores, 2018) through empirical insights gained by interviews with female Bumble users revealing particular strategies of women to avoid harassment and safe mobile dating app navigation.…”

Reciprocal self-disclosure and rejection strategies on bumble

“…The difference between Bumble and other apps is that after two partners swipe right on each other and “match” on the app, only a woman can initiate messaging. This feature was created with the intent to empower women and reduce the likelihood of online harassment initiated by men (Pruchniewska, 2020; Stratmoen et al, 2020; Tanner & Tabo, 2018). While research has indicated that women do feel empowered using the app to choose or reject matches (Pruchniewska, 2020; Tanner & Tabo, 2018), little is known about how female users reject others and communicate on the app.…”

“…This feature was created with the intent to empower women and reduce the likelihood of online harassment initiated by men (Pruchniewska, 2020; Stratmoen et al, 2020; Tanner & Tabo, 2018). While research has indicated that women do feel empowered using the app to choose or reject matches (Pruchniewska, 2020; Tanner & Tabo, 2018), little is known about how female users reject others and communicate on the app. Thus, this study fills a gap in the literature by investigating which strategies women most commonly use to reject partners on Bumble.…”