- 09/06/2017
- Category: Commentaries
As social creatures, we find love and being in a relationship as an important part of our lives; love can indeed be categorized as one of a human’s being basic needs alongside food, health, and shelter. Being such an important element of life, love has created a business segment of its own. A large player in the ‘love business’ is the dating sites and apps such as Tinder which are easily accessible by anyone with a smart gadget plus an internet connection. The use of dating sites and apps has tripled among young millennials for the last three years or so.[1] We can speculate on why people use these services, especially Tinder – for finding love with a bit of luck, obviously. However, a few researchers have been finding out the actual reasons behind the usage of Tinder, and it might surprise you that dating is not the priority of those who are on these services.
Martin Graff of Psychology Today uncovered the main reasons why people are on a dating app, Tinder in this case, on his blog Love, Digitally. He pointed out research by Sumter, Vandenbosch, and Ligtenberg which collected responses from 266 Tinder users – current or former – aged between 18 and 30 in 2016. The participants of this study indicated how often they used the Tinder app, whether or not they had been successful in meeting a Tinder match in real life, and the number of times, if any, Tinder one-night stands they had managed to have. Finally, respondents exposed to statements that illustrate assumed reasons behind Tinder usage such as “to contact a romantic partner,” “to find someone to have sex with,” and “to feel better about me”, and they had to inform to what extent they agree or not towards those statements.[2]
The research came up with surprising findings, stating that the main reasons behind Tinder usage among the respondents are more than sex and affection: they are more about validation and self-worth, excitement, and ease of communication apart from love and casual sex. This indicates that despite Tinder is mainly designed to be a dating app, the users of which utilize the app for getting some self-confidence boost. It is likely that when you are using Tinder, and you receive a notification of a match on it which indicates that you seem attractive to someone, it would enhance feelings of validation and improve self-esteem. Having risky plans such as one-night stands reflects the excitement, another main reason why people use the app. The research also suggests that the users who communicate easier online compared to doing it offline were less likely to connect with those they had met on Tinder on a face-to-face date. [3]
Candice Jalili of Elite Daily on her blog Digital Generation affirmed those findings, and she too argues that the ultimate reason why Tinder users use the app is for increasing confidence. Jalili pointed out research outcomes from LendEdu which studied 9,000 millennials, finding out that a majority of 44% of the respondents use Tinder for “confidence-boosting procrastination” instead of getting a date. The one thing that boggles the mind, though, is that only 4% of the respondents are on Tinder to look for a relationship.[4] What this study suggests that again, Tinder as a dating app is primarily used for gaining extra confidence for one’s self.
But, these findings do make sense. No matter whether you are a man or a woman, having an exciting chat with a person whom you find attractive and finds you the same way after a long, stressful day of work or college can be soothing on your eyebrows. Sure, perhaps it is not what you would like to do initially when the app was just installed on your smart devices, but apparently, that is what Tinder users do. So the next time you feel like swiping the picture to the right to get a chance of asking them for a date, keep in mind that they most probably do not have the same idea.
picture: Makerbook
[1] Toglia, M. (2017). 6 Charts That Show What Dating App Behavior Is Really Like, According To Bustle & Happn’s Dating Survey. [online] Bustle.com. Available at: https://www.bustle.com/articles/178033-6-charts-that-show-what-dating-app-behavior-is-really-like-according-to-bustle-happns [Accessed 6 Jun. 2017].
[2] Graff, M. (2017). The Surprising Truth About Why People Use Tinder. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-digitally/201610/the-surprising-truth-about-why-people-use-tinder [Accessed 5 Jun. 2017].
[3] Graff, M. (2017). The Surprising Truth About Why People Use Tinder. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-digitally/201610/the-surprising-truth-about-why-people-use-tinder [Accessed 5 Jun. 2017].
[4] Jalili, C. (2017). Science Says We All Use Tinder For The Same Reason, And It’s Not To Date Or Hook Up. [online] Elite Daily. Available at: https://elitedaily.com/dating/use-tinder-for-same-reason-not-dating/1839174/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2017].
