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The players of micro-dating: Individual and gender differences in goal orientations toward micro-dating apps

Authors:
Christopher Carpenter at Western Illinois University
Christopher Carpenter
Bree McEwan
Bree McEwan
Bree McEwan
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Abstract

Dating apps on smartphones have brought speed dating on the Internet to a new level. This exploratory investigation sought to determine what kinds of people use these apps, what their motivations are, and what precautions they take before meeting someone. One hundred and seventy-three non-users and 57 current users of dating apps were surveyed. The data suggest that the strongest motive for using dating apps is not for dating or sex, but for entertainment. On the other hand, the more frequent users of these apps are people whose personalities are predisposed towards varied sexual partners. These different motives may represent a disconnect between those who wish to kill time and those who are seeking sexual partners.
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... The third research question of the study was to find out the relationship between Bumble motivations and the frequency of Bumble usage. In line with the prior scholarship [114], biological sex emerged as a significant positive predictor of Bumble usage, indicating that men exhibited a higher frequency of Bumble usage. This result supports the reports [115,116] on the usage of Bumble in India in D. Menon which men were the largest users of Bumble and exhibited a higher frequency of usage. ...
... Amongst the motivations, love, socialisation, and trendiness significantly predicted Bumble usage. Hence, the current study supports the argument [114]; [119] that dating apps are used more for entertainment purposes than sex or dating. [14]; based on their study on Tinder, suggested that some people are more interested in using dating apps to explore their features than their functionality. ...
... [2] suggested that youngsters increasingly depend on dating apps to pursue social, sexual, and romantic connections. Hence, given the ubiquity of smartphone usage, it is logical that the younger the user, the more inclined to invite their prospective matches for a face-to-face meeting [114]. Among the Bumble motivations, love, socialisation, and trendiness have emerged as significant predictors of physical dating. ...
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... This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under Grant PGC2018-101682-B-I00; and Departament de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya under Grant 2017SGR53. get frustrated if they cannot find women that are looking for the same thing, and women who are seeking a stable partner may feel unhappy if they continually receive sexual propositions (Carpenter;McEwan, 2016). ...
... This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under Grant PGC2018-101682-B-I00; and Departament de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya under Grant 2017SGR53. get frustrated if they cannot find women that are looking for the same thing, and women who are seeking a stable partner may feel unhappy if they continually receive sexual propositions (Carpenter;McEwan, 2016). ...
... In the transition from online communication to face-to-face encounters, women have been found to be more cautious about meeting strangers (Carpenter;McEwan, 2016). They are generally more selective and swipe for a longer period of time than men (Ward, 2016). ...
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... The genesis of dating applications can be traced back to the early days of the internet, where websites served as the primary medium for digital dating. The transition from desktop websites to mobile apps has revolutionized the way individuals engage with these platforms, making them more accessible and integrated into daily life [1][2][3]. The introduction of smartphones equipped with GPS and other location-based services further catalyzed this shift, allowing apps like Tinder, launched in 2012, to popularize the concept of swiping for potential matches based on geographical proximity [4][5][6]. ...
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The genesis of dating applications can be traced back to the early days of the internet, where websites served as the primary medium for digital dating [...]
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Apps e Jovens Adultos: Contributos para um Mapeamento de Práticas Mediadas explora teorias, práticas, críticas e perspetivas no uso de aplicações móveis por pessoas de 18 a 30 anos. Estruturado em três partes, o livro inicia-se com uma base teórica sobre práticas digitalmente mediadas em jovens adultos/as. O primeiro capítulo critica os média digitais, analisando a natureza simbólica das aplicações móveis. A exploração abrange jogos, dating, saúde e fitness, destacando o compromisso analítico necessário. Os capítulos seguintes abordam género, examinando como jovens adultos/as se envolvem em aplicações de automonitorização e saúde, explorando diferenças de género na adoção tecnológica e questionando construções de género e sexualidade nas práticas de consumo de média. A segunda parte concentra-se em tendências contemporâneas entre jovens adultos globalmente. Trend studies, um campo transdisciplinar, analisa a digitalização da vida quotidiana e plataformas, explorando conceitos como “zeitgeist” para entender ideias dominantes. A última parte realiza uma análise prospetiva do futuro, oferecendo insights sobre cenários futuros relacionados com a evolução do panorama digital. Publicado como parte do projeto MyGender e apoiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, o e-book visa contribuir para o campo, combinando profundidade teórica com insights práticos e análises orientadas para o futuro.
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... A literatura destacou que, na tentativa de apresentar um eu ideal mas autêntico (Ward, 2017), as mulheres são mais propensas do que os homens a usar fotos melhoradas e enfatizar a sua juventude e atratividade física (Abramova et al., 2016). Consistente com os scripts tradicionais de género, as mulheres são menos propensas do que os homens a iniciar uma conversa através de mensagens privadas e parecem mais relutantes em avançar para encontros presenciais (Carpenter & McEwan, 2016;Sharabi & Dykstra-DeVette, 2019). ...
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... Second, the original survey only contained a question regarding biological sex but not gender. While previous studies on sex differences in online dating (e.g., Carpenter & McEwan, 2016;Morr & Mongeau, 2004) suggest that initial explorations with sex differences can be informative, especially given the quality of the current sample, the findings regarding sex cannot be generalized to gender as assigned biological identity and social identity can be different. ...
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