Love at first swipe? Explaining Tinder self-presentation and motives

Abstract

The emergence of Location-Based Real-Time Dating (LBRTD) apps such as Tinder has introduced a new way for users to get to know potential partners nearby. The design of the apps represents a departure from "old-school" dating sites as it relies on the affordances of mobile media. This might change the way individuals portray themselves as their authentic or deceptive self. Based on survey data collected via Mechanical Turk and using structural equation modeling, we assess how Tinder users present themselves, exploring at the same time the impact of their personality characteristics, their demographics and their motives of use. We find that self-esteem is the most important psychological predictor, fostering real self-presentation but decreasing deceptive self-presentation. The motives of usehooking up/sex, friendship, relationship, traveling, self-validation, and entertainment -also affect the two forms of self-presentation. Demographic characteristics and psychological antecedents influence the motives for using Tinder, with gender differences being especially pronounced. Women use Tinder more for friendship and self-validation, while men use it more for hooking up/sex, traveling and relationship seeking. We put the findings into context, discuss the limitations of our approach and provide avenues for future research into the topic. percent of married or committed couples in the US met their significant other online, and that 11 percent of the online adult American population claims to have used a dating site at least once in their lifetime (Lenhart & Duggan, 2014). While less data is available for the rest of the world, the market for online dating has seen a similar trend of dramatic growth in countries such as India (Joshi & Kumar, 2012) and the UK (Kee & Yazdanifard, 2015). As online dating becomes more common, the associated level of negative stigma seems to shrink. Consequently, more and more Internet users claim they consider online dating "a good way of meeting new people" (Smith & Anderson, 2015). Part of this change in attitude could be due to the evolution of dating sites into dating apps. Being mobile, in fact, suggests more flexible boundaries between online and offline, yielding opportunities for a "co-situation", i.e. the parallel existence of two individuals in a place that is both physical and virtual (Van de Wiele & Tong, 2014). LBRTD (Location-Based Real-Time Dating) apps like Tinder or Grindr have this mechanism at their core, employing the geographical distance between users as a key variable on the basis of which TINDER SELF-PRESENTATION 4 potential partners can be found. Once users have set their demographics of interest, the algorithm can identify potential dates ("matches" in Tinder-lingo) as near as the same block or even building (David & Cambre, 2016;Duguay, 2016). GPS-based dating apps, more so than traditional dating sites, strengthen the connection between online and offline, giving users an incentive to meet "in real life" (Cohen, 2015;Gibbs, Ellison & Lai, 2011). This has...

Where Dating Meets Data: Investigating Social and Institutional Privacy Concerns on Tinder

“…In this sense, for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities, apps such as Grindr or Brenda have represented an important cultural shift into creating and performing a community without a shared physical place (Blackwell, Birnholtz, & Abbott, 2014;Fitzpatrick, Birnholtz, & Brubaker, 2015). The exploration of motivations behind users' self-presentation on LBRTD apps has been an important topic within the emerging field of online dating research so far (Duguay, 2016;Ranzini & Lutz, 2017). To this day, however, the topic of users' privacy concerns, especially in connection with their motivations, remains relatively understudied.…”

Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies: An Exploration of Sugar Dating on Canadian Campuses

“…The Internet has been co-opted by the sex trade to provide online communities where individuals can indulge in and explore sexual desires and find companionship in all forms (Fullick, 2013;McWilliams & Barret, 2014;Ranzini & Lutz, 2016;Sevcikova & Daneback, 2011). There are now tens of thousands of websites dedicated, in one way or another, to buying and selling intimate services -most popularly, escort agencies (Sharpe & Early 2003;Hughes, 2004), and other sex-oriented contact websites.…”

Effects of Relationship Goal on Linguistic Behavior in Online Dating Profiles: A Multi-Method Approach

“…One of the explanations for this contrasting finding may be that using I-references can also be interpreted as a sign of increased levels of self-disclosure, where self-disclosure promotes intimacy and closeness (Laurenceau et al, 1998;Slatcher et al, 2008). Serious relational objectives, such as relationships with higher chances of leading to offline encounters, can affect the type and amount people self-disclose in their self-presentation (Gibbs et al, 2006;Ranzini and Lutz, 2017). Since long-term relationship seekers are more tempted to involve in intimate and close relationships, it may perhaps not be surprising that they self-disclose more by using more I-references.…”

“…This (linguistic) behavior could be especially apparent in the online dating domain where most people adapt to the minimal cue environment by developing strategies-consciously and unconsciously-about how to present themselves. As such, online daters' textual self-presentations may differ depending on profile owners' motives and intended relationship goals (Ranzini and Lutz, 2017). The first goal of this study is therefore to examine to what extent dating intentions affect linguistic behavior in online dating profile texts, and what particular linguistic elements are important when trying to distinguish between profile texts written by people with different relationship goals.…”