Tinder Users Have a Low Self-Image
Swipe much? If you use Tinder to look for dates, you also probably don’t like yourself much, according to News.com.au. New research suggests this is especially true if you’re a man.
Psychologists based in the U.S. studied 1,044 women and 273 men, according to the article, and found that — regardless of gender — those who used the location-based dating app were more likely than nonusers to suffer “body dissatisfaction, body shame, body monitoring, internalization of societal expectations of beauty, comparing oneself physically to others, and reliance on media for information on appearance and attractiveness,” according to Jessica Strubel, PhD, from the University of North Texas, who co-led the research.
Strubel added that the way the app works — by letting users swipe right to “match” with potential paramours and swipe left to reject them — puts users more at risk for feeling “depersonalized and disposable.” The findings were presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting in Denver.
Curiously, though the research concentrated mainly on female participants, it was the male Tinder users who suffered the lowest self-esteem. “Although current body image interventions primarily have been directed toward women, our findings suggest that men are equally and negatively affected by their involvement in social media,” Strubel noted.
Strubel and her team had participants respond to questionnaires that focused on body image, socio-cultural factors, perceived objectification, and psychological well-being. In addition to uncovering information on Tinder’s users’ own insecurities, researchers also found that the app caused people to judge potential love interests who popped up on their screen. Particularly, the app — which generates photos of users as if were dealing a never-ending deck of cards — leaves users with “analysis paralysis,” or the feeling the someone better is right around the corner (or right after the next swipe, as it were).
The app launched in September 2012 and has amassed an impressive following in less than four years: Tinder boasts 50 million users, according to the article. Because it’s relatively new, though, and studies are only now being conducted on its social and psychological effects, it’s hard to predict the app’s long-term impact. More research will be required as the years go by.
Tinder recently introduced a new feature that lets users create groups with friends on the app and plan group dates. There’s no opinion on whether this solidarity element could help boost the self-esteem of its participants, though.
So the next time you launch your Tinder app, it might be smart to concern yourself less about meeting someone you’ll love and more about learning to love yourself.
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