Mate Selection in Cyberspace: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Education

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine how race, gender, and education jointly shape interaction among heterosexual Internet daters. They find that racial homophily dominates mate-searching behavior for both men and women. A racial hierarchy emerges in the reciprocating process. Women respond only to men of similar or more dominant racial status, while nonblack men respond to all but black women. Significantly, the authors find that education does not mediate the observed racial preferences among white men and white women. White men and white women with a college degree are more likely to contact and to respond to white daters without a college degree than they are to black daters with a college degree.

What are you doing on Tinder? Impression management on a matchmaking mobile app

“…In this case, filtering went beyond appearance into other identity factors, such as perceived education level and indicators of socio-economic status. Unlike traditional dating websites that often ask for height, weight, race, or education level (Hancock et al, 2007;Lin & Lundquist, 2013;Skopek et al, 2011), there are often no other indicators beyond a few photographs and a few words of text. This allows a different perspective on Tinder: Impression management is focused on that brief moment where one decides whether to swipe right or left.…”

“…Best and Delmege find that in an online dating environment that offers a 'plethora of choice … filtering strategies are adopted spontaneously and refined conscientiously by participants ' (2012, p. 253). This process is often more complex on dating websites, in which users are allowed to additionally screen potential matches on height and weight (Hancock, Toma, & Ellison, 2007), race (Lin & Lundquist, 2013), and education level (Skopek, Schulz, & Blossfeld, 2011).…”

Gender Differences in Online Dating: What Do We Know So Far? A Systematic Literature Review

“……visit online dating sites more often [66]. No gender differences in time spent on website [43]. [66].…”

From Assortative to Ashortative Coupling: Men's Height, Height Heterogamy, and Relationship Dynamics in the United States

“…Such exchanges are manifestations of extrarelationship hierarchies, in that what provides one with status outside the relationship is also assumed to provide them with status within the relationship. 4 A similar paucity of racial heterogamy is echoed in studies on dating, although slightly less rare among cohabiting and non-residing couples (Joyner and Kao 2005;Lin and Lundquist 2013).…”