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Mediatized Love: A Materialist Phenomenology of Tinder

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The article scrutinizes the mediatization of dating and love as part of a broader mediatization process of the life-world, with a focus on the experience of using the popular dating app Tinder. Central to the analysis is how interfacial features, algorithmic structuration, and user perceptions create the affordances of the application and, in the process, shape the experience of using it. The experience of using Tinder is characterized by a “swipe logic,” marked by speediness, visuality, and (self-)objectification, but also by the prevalence of cynicism and boredom on the platform. Under these circumstances, users of Tinder are confronted with new challenges, and to tackle these, they make use of their life-world knowledge as well as creating novel forms of knowledge. While using Tinder, they apply and modify their life-world stock of knowledge. Tinder as a tool of online dating is marked by the duality of reflectivity versus impulsive affectivity, superficiality versus depth, and instrumentality versus striving for relations thought of as authentic. All in all, the mediatization of partner selection is interpreted as a special form of the colonization of the life-world.

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Article

Introduction

Love and intimate relationships have emerged as important

ideals of (late) modern societies, despite the fact that the

association of love with long-term relationships and sexual-

ity is not universal but socially constructed (Giddens, 1992)

and rooted in modern capitalism (Illouz, 2007). In late

modernity, as argued by Bauman (2005), meaningful work-

based identities are undermined by job insecurity and the

uncertainties of the labor market. As a consequence, as noted

by Bauman and also Schulze (1992), most people seek to

accomplish their individual project of a meaningful life in

the private sphere, more specifically, by building consump-

tion-driven identities. Others, in turn, have emphasized the

role of intimate relationships in the personal quest for happi-

ness (Giddens, 1992) and personal well-being (Rövid et al.,

2021). The third point of view combines the previous two by

stating that the individual quest for happiness in intimate

relations is intertwined with the logic of consumerism.

According to Illouz (2007), in the era of “emotional capital-

ism,” emotions and intimate relationships have been com-

modified and obey the logic of consumerism. With the rise of

the romantic ethic (Campbell, 1987) and the modern concept

of romantic love as a product of capitalism and consumerism

(Illouz, 1997), love has increasingly come to be seen as a

means to finding happiness in the modern age.

Late modernity has seen the emergence of novel forms of

dating. Online dating platforms expose the new ambiguities

and difficulties of intimate relationships. Illouz (2007,

Chapter 3) interprets online dating as leading to a transfor-

mation of romantic encounters into economic transactions.

According to this view, people have to promote themselves

as products, by creating a personal brand to make themselves

desirable to and “consumable” by others to be able to “con-

sume” them in turn. These are signs of the instrumentaliza-

tion of partner selection and of “cold intimacies.” According

to the theory of cold intimacies, users of online dating ser-

vices, who are confronted with an almost unlimited pool of

potential partners on the dating market, develop a preference

for casual relationships at the expense of committed bonds,

because they cannot free themselves from the belief that

1216922SMSXXX10.1177/20563051231216922Social Media <span class="symbol" cstyle="Mathematical">+</span> SocietyBerger

research-article20232023

University of Pécs, Hungary

Corresponding Author:

Viktor Berger, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social

Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.

Email: berger.viktor@pte.hu

Mediatized Love: A Materialist

Phenomenology of Tinder

Viktor Berger

Abstract

The article scrutinizes the mediatization of dating and love as part of a broader mediatization process of the life-world,

with a focus on the experience of using the popular dating app Tinder. Central to the analysis is how interfacial features,

algorithmic structuration, and user perceptions create the affordances of the application and, in the process, shape the

experience of using it. The experience of using Tinder is characterized by a “swipe logic,” marked by speediness, visuality,

and (self-)objectification, but also by the prevalence of cynicism and boredom on the platform. Under these circumstances,

users of Tinder are confronted with new challenges, and to tackle these, they make use of their life-world knowledge as

well as creating novel forms of knowledge. While using Tinder, they apply and modify their life-world stock of knowledge.

Tinder as a tool of online dating is marked by the duality of reflectivity versus impulsive affectivity, superficiality versus depth,

and instrumentality versus striving for relations thought of as authentic. All in all, the mediatization of partner selection is

interpreted as a special form of the colonization of the life-world.

Keywords

online dating, Tinder, phenomenology, life-world, visual regime, late modernity

2 Social Media + Society

there is always someone better, a better “product” to be “con-

sumed.” They often aim for people “out of their league”

without any inclination to make compromises, which makes

it even harder for them to find a partner with whom they

would be willing to settle down (Fáber, 2019; Illouz, 2007, p.

104; van Hooff, 2020, p. 123). This consumerist tendency in

partner selection, a persistent feature since the onset of online

dating websites, is even more heightened in dating apps such

as Tinder, Grindr, Happn, or Bumble, which reinforce the

role of visuality in “scopic capitalism” (Illouz, 2019). As

Illouz (2019, p. 23) puts it, services like these “turn the sub-

ject into a consumer of sex and emotions, entitled to the right

to use or dispose of the commodity at will.” Nevertheless, as

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1990) have argued, the growing

contingency of intimate relationships does not lead to the

rejection of love but to its even heightened significance for

individuals and a shift in how it is conceptualized and prac-

ticed. Similarly, Giddens (1992, Chapter 4) highlighted a

transformation away from the traditional ideal of romantic

love (supposed to last “until death do us part”) to that of the

“pure relationship,” which ought to rely on mutual commit-

ment and emotional engagement, lasting only as long as

these emotions are maintained (whether in marriages, domes-

tic partnerships, relations among people living apart together,

or in any other form).

This article focuses on Tinder, the most popular dating

application worldwide.1 Drawing on a critical and theoretical

analysis of previous scholarship on the app, it examines how

specific objective and material structures solicit certain

experiences on the part of Tinder users. The main goal of the

article is to interpret how online daters’ processes of sense-

making emerge in a dynamic relation between everyday

actors, app features, algorithms, and affordances, as well as

corporate strategies. Due to Beck and Beck-Gernsheim’s and

Giddens’s comments on the still-continuing importance of

long-term relationships, the article gives special attention to

the conditions and possibilities of finding a long-term love

relationship under the circumstances of online dating (with-

out denying the legitimacy of other motivations per se). The

article claims that online daters’ typical motivations, atti-

tudes, and behavioral patterns—as well as their strategies of

self-representation and attempts to interpret those of oth-

ers—do not simply arise from their own reasoning, but are

embedded in a broader sociotechnical context. This calls for

a theoretical framework capable of interpreting actors’

behavior, attitudes, and sense-making in light of their situat-

edness within broader material structures. The materialist

phenomenological approach, proposed by Couldry and Hepp

(2017), is suitable for this task. Materialist phenomenology,

as understood here, draws on classical phenomenological

theory, but, in contrast with these classical approaches, gives

more prominence to social and material structures and the

conditions in which actors are dynamically embedded. This

is not to say that the role of objective circumstances is

entirely missing from classical accounts. According to Alfred

Schutz (1962), founder of phenomenological sociology, the

social sciences ought to interpret social action by construct-

ing abstract scientific models of actors embedded in a spe-

cific social world (see also Havrancsik, 2018). A

phenomenological interpretation, therefore, includes the

construction of models of actors driven by typical motives,

carrying out typical actions in typical social settings. While

this article’s approach is loosely based on the Schutzian

method—in that it aims to identify typical structural circum-

stances and users’ typical attitudes, motivations, and

actions—it also departs from Schutz in two ways. First, it

gives greater prominence to material and social structures

and to their influence on actors’ experiences than Schutz’s

approach. Second, this article preserves these typical aspects

in their multiplicity, rather than tying them together to con-

struct a single ideal-typical figure of “the” Tinder user (as

Schutz, 1964a, did for the stranger).

This article draws on previous scholarship on Tinder, but

not on any genuine empirical study. While a (materialist)

phenomenological inquiry certainly can involve empirical

work, it does not necessarily have to, since its aim is to con-

struct actors’ typical motives and actions in typical configu-

rations (Schutz, 1962). As far as previous studies provide

clues (albeit decontextualized ones) for discerning Tinder

users’ typical external circumstances, motivations, and

actions, they may inform a phenomenologically oriented

interpretation, despite having different research questions,

conceptualizations, and theoretical backgrounds.2 On the

upside, drawing on a wide selection of research means being

able to cover a broader range of findings than any sole study

could provide.

To offer a materialist phenomenological assessment of the

Tinder experience, this article will thus first delineate the

social context, including the relevant and typical aspects for

Tinder users. The broader context affecting their experiences

includes the mediatization of everyday life (Couldry & Hepp,

2017), the transformation of online dating in the 2010s, the

interfacial features of the Tinder app, and the growing power

of algorithms working behind the visual interface. The next

chapter will analyze how these objective and material struc-

tures feed into user experiences, and argues that this can be

accomplished by unearthing the (imagined) affordances of

the platform. This is due to the fact that structural mecha-

nisms, interfacial features, and algorithms do not have a

structuring power on their own, but rely on users’ percep-

tions to unfold. The imagined affordances of the application,

as user-generated responses to external circumstances,

include the dominance of visuality (the “swipe logic;” David

& Cambre, 2016), ghosting (Narr & Luong, 2023), perceiv-

ing the app’s algorithm as manipulatory, and the fostering of

addictive behavior (Narr, 2022b). The subsequent chapter

will examine if, how, and to what extent users are able to

reflect on or resist certain negative tendencies inherent on

Tinder. By relying on Habermas’s (1984, 1987) conception

of the life-world, special attention will be given to the

Berger 3

specific life-world resources that are available to actors for

these purposes. The subsequent section will argue that

research findings point toward inherent and fundamental

dualisms in the experience of users: superficiality and depth,

reflectivity and visceral affectivity, as well as instrumental

attitudes and striving for committed relations perceived as

genuine. The final chapter draws a number of conclusions in

the context of the mediatization and colonization of the life-

world and interprets the mediatization of dating as a complex

and ambivalence process.

Mediatization of the Life-World and

the Power of Algorithms on Tinder

If online daters, and Tinder users specifically, are to be inter-

preted typically, the first necessary step is to outline the

sociotechnical and material context of online dating. In this

regard, the mediatization of everyday life is highly relevant.

However, to include these novel processes into phenomeno-

logical investigation, a materialist phenomenological

approach must be taken. The primary question from a phe-

nomenological viewpoint is how actors construct knowl-

edge that enables them to ascribe meaning and order to

social actions and, more generally, to social reality. Classic

phenomenological theories—even when they take some ele-

ments of the social environment into consideration—attri-

bute the meaningful construction of reality essentially to the

activities of pragmatic individuals and their face-to-face

interactions (Schutz & Luckmann, 1973). In light of media’s

growing importance in human actors’ processes of sense-

making, such a view is rather reductive. The significance of

media highlights the need to move from conventional phe-

nomenological theory to a materialist phenomenology that

allows for a joint analysis of human sense-making, as well

as media technologies and infrastructure (Couldry & Hepp,

2017, pp. 5–7; Hepp, 2019, p. 10). The concept of mediati-

zation refers to the role of media and Information and

Communication Technologies (ICTs) in processes of socio-

cultural change, and to their growing importance for various

social spheres and everyday life structures and interactions

(Couldry & Hepp, 2013, p. 197). There are far-reaching

implications of the mediatization of the life-world. Media

are not neutral, and the growing reliance of communication

on media, ICT, and various tools and apps has an effect on

actors’ knowledge, interactional styles, structures, and

content.

Mediatization in the present,3 broadly speaking, refers to

the growing significance of online dating sites and applica-

tions in partner selection, as highlighted by various studies

(Newett et al., 2018, p. 353; Rosenfeld, 2018; Rosenfeld

et al., 2019; Rosenfeld & Thomas, 2012). The internet has

gradually become the most important factor in establishing

intimate relationships in the United States, displacing tradi-

tional matchmaking institutions and mediators such as

friends, educational institutions, workplace, church, and

family (Rosenfeld et al., 2019, pp. 13, 15; Rosenfeld &

Thomas, 2012, p. 530). However, the recent mediatization of

dating is more than that, since online dating today is embed-

ded in what Zuboff (2019) has called surveillance capitalism.

According to this view, corporate providers of online plat-

forms and solutions aim to exploit users to maximize their

profits by collecting and analyzing as much user data as pos-

sible (cf. Narr, 2022b, p. 5343). The rise of surveillance capi-

talism in the context of online dating signals a shift: While in

the 2000s, the landscape of online dating was dominated by

websites such as OkCupid or match.com accessible through

PCs, the 2010s saw the rise of dating apps primarily used on

touchscreen phones. This shift has had profound conse-

quences. As they can be used in various locations, smart-

phones and their applications cultivate different data (passive,

ubiquitous, and habitual) than websites (deliberate and cir-

cumscribed in terms of time and space), which leads to dif-

ferent data cultures (Albury et al., 2017, pp. 3–4). In this new

environment, users are enticed to become habituated to their

apps to generate an abundance of various types of data for

companies to collect and analyze. With the advent of geo-

located applications on touchscreen phones, the possibilities

of gathering data have multiplied (Albury et al., 2017; Narr,

2022b).

By, first, creating pleasant, stimulating, exciting, immer-

sive, or “fun” interfaces, and, second, employing specific

algorithms, the profit-oriented providers of online platforms

and services lure users into regular app use to extract data

from them. As for Tinder, its usage and interfacial features

are well known: After registering, signing in, creating their

profile, and uploading their pictures, users can view each

other’s profile cards and swipe left or right. A left swipe

implies dislike and a right swipe indicates interest. Having

mutually liked each other’s profiles, users get connected and

can start to chat. Profile cards are dominated by pictures

rather than textual information, and there is no possibility to

apply fine-grained filters, only age, geographical distance,

and preferred gender. The sequence of profile cards and sim-

ple yes or no questions is designed to make Tindering a

seamless and gamified experience (Grigoriadis, 2014).

However, there is secrecy regarding what actually happens

beneath the user interface, since contemporary dating com-

panies only give hints, but do not reveal how their algorithms

actually work.

Algorithms—understood as formalized models of a series

of computational operations—are an integral part of this pro-

cess. They are at work wherever digital data generated by

users need to be processed, sorted, and analyzed to make

automated decisions, to aid human decision-making (Ságvári,

2017, p. 64), and, finally, to make a profit (Narr, 2022b). In

fact, algorithms are everywhere: from medicine to crime pre-

vention, risk assessment, traffic control, governance, the

economy, and online search suggestions (Peeters &

Schuilenburg, 2021), to generating playlists and recommen-

dations on music streaming platforms (cf. Barna, 2017) or

4 Social Media + Society

curating social media feeds (Hogan, 2010). Algorithms

structure what information is available (and in what order)

for users to perceive and interpret. In this way, they structure

social interactions, but without human actors being (fully)

aware of this.

One of the most important questions regarding the prin-

ciples of Tinder’s algorithm is how and in what order the app

displays profile propositions to its users. The algorithms of

dating apps such as Tinder work in a different way than those

of dating websites in the 2000s and early 2010s. As Narr

(2022b, p. 5341) has highlighted, “Popular dating web-

sites—such as OkCupid.com, Match.com, and eHarmony—

recommend users according to algorithms ostensibly

designed to make good matches from questions users delib-

erately answer for that purpose.” In the case of OkCupid, it

was a “match percentage algorithm” that helped users to

select promising profiles and to overcome information over-

load. The working principles and intentions of Tinder’s algo-

rithm are, however, much more opaque. While users may

specify their preferences regarding age, gender, and geo-

graphical distance, the free version of the application does

not display the profiles of all potential partners correspond-

ing to these criteria. David and Cambre (2016, p. 5) have

demonstrated experimentally that the app proposes only a

limited number of profiles to non-paying users, which are

selected and ordered according to the platform’s algorithm. It

is fair to assume that the algorithm determines whose pro-

files users see, at what time, in what order and, consequently,

who gets to match with whom (Courtois & Timmermans,

2018, p. 7), but how exactly is unclear. By way of the experi-

ence sampling method, Courtois and Timmermans (2018)

have been able to infer some basic properties of Tinder’s

algorithm. While dating websites’ algorithms were designed

to provide good matches for online daters (Narr, 2022b, p.

5341), Courtois and Timmermans stress that, for Tinder, user

matches and interesting profiles are valuable assets to be pro-

tected—and the algorithm does exactly that by regulating

how many “interesting” profiles (non-paying) users see in

specific intervals, and thus also the number of matches. All

this to keep users satisfied but not too satisfied, as both offer-

ing these valuable assets too fast and being too parsimonious

with them would lead to decreased user satisfaction4 and,

consequently, to declining revenues (Courtois &

Timmermans, 2018, p. 13).5 The algorithm of Tinder encour-

ages a certain swiping behavior, both restricting and enticing

users, while aiming to create a balanced use.

All these objective and material structures—being sub-

jected to data collection in surveillance capitalism, shifts in

data cultures, the features of Tinder’s interface, and the

workings of the app’s algorithm—affect and shape the expe-

rience of using Tinder. However, these external circum-

stances do not govern actions directly and automatically.

How Tinderers actually act is dependent on how they per-

ceive and interpret the application’s affordances. Having

examined the typical situational aspects of Tindering, the

next chapter will turn to the emergence of affordances, and

how they typically influence users.

Imagined Affordances and Tinder’s

Logic

So far, this analysis has outlined, from an external perspec-

tive, the specific sociotechnical and material environment in

which online dating apps such as Tinder are embedded, as

well as the relevant properties of the app interface and its

algorithm. The fact that Tinder’s online daters are subjected

to data gathering in surveillance capitalism, that the app’s

interface has specific features, and that interactions are to a

great extent organized by algorithms, influences users’ atti-

tudes, behavior, and typical swiping strategies. The purpose

of the present chapter is to interpret how the interfacial fea-

tures and algorithms of the app (themselves mediators of the

intentions of profit-oriented corporations) shape user experi-

ence, and what role actors play in this. After considering the

theory of (imagined) affordances, the discussion turns to the

imagined affordances of, first, Tinder’s user interface, and,

second, to those of the app’s algorithm.

The theory of affordances, as put forward in recent social

media scholarship, is a suitable theoretical tool for explain-

ing how algorithms and interfacial features feed into actors’

experience. However, the concept itself originated rather far

away from technology and social media studies. It was

developed by James J. Gibson to interpret how animals (and,

among them, humans) relate to their surroundings. He argues

that the “affordances of the environment are what it offers

the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or

ill” (Gibson, 2014, p. 119). For animals and humans, ele-

ments of the environment, by virtue of their properties, offer

the possibility of certain actions relevant for them. And the

same object may afford other actions to different species

(Gibson, 2014). Affordances are not simply the objective

possibilities and restrictions that material objects offer or

impose, because they only emerge through a dynamic inter-

action between perceivers and the environment. They are,

therefore, neither solely material qualities or objective prop-

erties, nor simply subjective imaginations or mental states:

Affordances emerge somewhere between these poles

(Gibson, 2014, p. 121). Although the theory of affordances is

not an explicitly phenomenological approach, it aligns well

with it, as there are obvious parallels. For example, for

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (2005, pp. 53, 115, 222), perception

is a “living communication with the world,” where both

poles are active, and the perception of objects is co-con-

structed by material qualities of things and bodily actors’

“intentional arc.”

Interestingly, in the context of communication theories,

the concept of affordances has, for several years, been used

in a rather reductive way. As Nagy and Neff (2015, pp. 2–3)

have pointed out, in communication studies, the concept of

affordances came to mean the possibilities a technology

Berger 5

offers to its users, with an emphasis on how conscious users

utilize technologies, but ignore effects that they are unaware

of. Instead, Nagy and Neff have proposed the alternative of

“imagined affordances.” This reconfiguration of affordance

theory—more in line with Gibsonian (2014) thought—situ-

ates the emergence of affordances in the dynamic interplay

between users’ perceptions, attitudes, and expectations, the

materiality and functionality of technologies, and designers’

intentions and perceptions of users (Nagy & Neff, 2015, p.

5). It draws attention to what many previous approaches

could not account for: that affordances are to a great deal

shaped by perceiving actors, who are not only rational and

conscious about the technologies they use, but also have atti-

tudes, expectations, and affects that influence how they

engage with media. Whether they are true or not, sentiments

and perceptions play a key role in the construction of affor-

dances: Misinterpretations and misperceptions also condi-

tion how a technology is seen and thus influence how people

act upon it (Nagy & Neff, 2015, pp. 3, 5).

This article takes this concept of imagined affordances as

a point of departure to interpret how Tinder influences the

experience of its users. Mediatized interactions constitute

their own forms of sociality, as previous research has shown

(Ekdahl & Osler, 2023; Osler & Zahavi, 2023; Zhao, 2015).

As a dating app, Tinder marks a clear shift when compared to

classic dating websites in terms of how and for what ends it

can be used, what mentality this engenders, and how users

relate to the platform and its algorithms. As Narr and Luong

(2023, p. 2) have remarked, dating websites promoted a more

rational approach to dating because they allow for more fine-

tuned and detailed partner search parameters, while dating

apps, and especially Tinder, only offer limited possibilities

for partner selection (preferred age, gender, distance), which

restricts (but not eliminates) user rationality and puts greater

emphasis on the affective aspect of the experience. Dating

websites, in their heyday, were mediatized dating markets

promoting a market mentality, a consumerist stance toward

possible partners.

The imagined affordances of Tinder are perceived and

shaped by users in relation to the app’s interface features and

algorithm. The simplicity of the interface (visuality and plain

likes and dislikes, as described in the previous chapter)

enables users to pursue various ends. Numerous studies have

explored the motivations of Tinder users, and despite the dif-

ferent terms describing these, the results obtained for young

people in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium,

and the Netherlands are remarkably similar: The main moti-

vations of Tinder users are finding a romantic relationship,

self-validation, hooking up, meeting new people, curiosity,

ease of use, excitement, and fun (Gatter & Hodkinson, 2016,

pp. 6−7; LeFebvre, 2018; Newett et al., 2018, p. 352; Palmer,

2020; Ranzini & Lutz, 2017; Sumter et al., 2017, pp. 71−73;

Timmermans & Courtois, 2018; Tyson et al., 2016, pp. 6−7;

van Hooff, 2020; Ward, 2017, pp. 1649−1650). There may be

differences between genders (a relative preference of men

for casual sexual encounters), countries, and age groups

(younger users typically prefer hook-ups over finding a

romantic relationship, while adults are more likely to look

for committed relations; Christensen, 2021, p. 3). As Illouz

(2019, p. 78) has noted, “Tinder can offer just quick, dispos-

able sex or the possibility to meet a ‘dream woman,’ thus

suggesting a multiform and undefined range of possibilities

between these two extremes.”

A significant further affordance of Tinder’s interface is

that it visualizes the “pool” of potential partners. Whether it

visualizes the whole pool is debatable (David & Cambre,

2016, p. 5), but it unquestionably displays a larger proportion

of possible partners than everyday face-to-face interactions.

This is not a completely novel feature, as it was also offered

by dating websites. But while they visualized a relationship

market for relatively conscious daters who set out to increase

their romantic benefits (Illouz, 2007; Narr & Luong, 2023, p.

2), it is much less obvious what pool dating apps such as

Tinder display. Precisely because of the multiplicity of user

motives, Tinder’s pool should not be considered purely as a

dating market, but a mixture of persons looking to find a

romantic relation, to date, to hook up, to get self-validation,

and so on. As a result, users may not be sure what the pool

represents. Illouz (2019, pp. 74–86) calls this phenomenon

“frame confusion” or “frame uncertainty,” where actors are

uncertain which script they should follow. Because of this,

Tinderers have to allocate additional cognitive resources to

find out whether their own and their (possible) matches’

intentions converge to a satisfactory degree—negotiating

these may be imbued with a variety of affects, from cheerful-

ness and playfulness to cynicism, anxiety, insecurity, or

hostility.

Above all, Tinder’s interface is also closely intertwined

with and affords a visual logic. The app—by displaying

“swipeable” profile cards dominated by visual appear-

ances—affords a strong visual logic. This has led David and

Cambre (2016, pp. 5–9) to coin the term “swipe logic,”

which is characterized by the centrality of visuality (appear-

ances matter) and by speediness (ability of users to rapidly

swipe left or right, thereby immersing themselves in a virtu-

ally infinite stream of potential matches). Acceleration

reduces the field of perception to easily decodable visual

cues of attractiveness (David & Cambre, 2016, p. 5).

However, the specific significance of the dominance of visu-

ality is more complex than previous scholarship would sug-

gest. A range of critical scholars have stressed, in relation to

a multitude of topics, that the dominance of visuality in

modernity is not socially neutral: An exposure to the surveil-

ling gaze of others is said to imply subordination, while the

dominant position supposedly belongs to the holder of the

gaze (de Certeau, 1984; Foucault, 1980; Jay, 1994; Lefebvre,

1991; Mulvey, 1975). With respect to Tinder, this would

mean that acceleration and excessive visuality push users of

Tinder to objectify others, where objectification refers to

treating people as quasi-objects to be viewed and evaluated

6 Social Media + Society

based upon bodily appearances (Rollero & de Piccoli, 2017).

However, this view proves to be problematic in two ways.

First, on Tinder, there are certain groups (for example, minor-

ity racial groups or nonbinary people) who are largely

avoided by mainstream Caucasians because of consciously

or unconsciously held stereotypes, resulting in much fewer

“likes” and, consequently, matches for members of these

groups. People belonging to minority races or having non-

mainstream sexual orientations are thus made virtually invis-

ible on Tinder (Narr, 2022a). Therefore, it is not those who

are subjected to the objectifying gaze of others, but those

who are made invisible in this sense who occupy the most

disadvantaged position on the platform—they are not even

objectified, meaning they are effectively not “part of the

game” (Narr, 2022a).

Second, and regarding those users who are “part of the

game,” who are gazed upon, the power relations are not as

clear-cut as previous scholarship suggests. There are, of

course, aspects that seem to confirm the equation of visuality

and dominance. The objectification of others is perfectly in

line with developers’ intentions—former chief executive

officer (CEO) Sean Rad compared using Tinder to a casting

process where users are the directors saying “yes” or “no” to

potential partners (Grigoriadis, 2014)—and many users are

attracted by this possibility. As one of Illouz’s (2019, p. 124)

interviewees stated: “[T]here is something exhilarating about

swiping right and left. It gives a feeling of power. I think the

designers of Tinder work on this feeling. You have a feeling

of omnipotence on your romantic destiny.” However, the

affordance of the swipe logic, as mediated by users’ percep-

tions, also has a typical unintentional effect. Users who feel

part of the game not only tend to objectify others but also

themselves, meaning they judge themselves according to

their physical appearance. The reason for this is that they are

aware that others perceive them in this way. The objectifying

gaze directed at others and self-objectification are mutually

reinforcing. This is true for both men and women, because

Tinder and other online dating apps expose men to the objec-

tifying gaze of others. As a result, men also tend to objectify

their bodies (Strubel & Petrie, 2017).

There are other features of the app interface with para-

doxical consequences. Tinder makes “ghosting” relatively

simple, meaning that users can easily end communication

and contact with their matches, without any warning or justi-

fication. On one side, ghosting may be a convenient solution

to certain problems: If users ghost others, they can avoid

conflicts, which they would not be able to do if they had to

explain why they do not want to continue interacting with or

dating the other (Narr & Luong, 2023). However, ghosting

others is a different case than the experience of being ghosted,

and most users have such experiences. No matter how much

energy or creativity users have put into their messages, there

is a risk that seemingly promising interactions can end at any

time (Narr & Luong, 2023, p. 10). Having experienced this

multiple times, disheartened users will become disillusioned,

contact each other out of boredom, and send each other

generic messages, which leads to boring conversations and

to more and more boredom and ghosting. Tinder, according

to Narr and Luong (2023), is saturated with the affective

mood of boredom and disillusion—especially on the part of

people who are looking for a committed romantic relation-

ship and have not succeeded for a while. The affordance of

ghosting in its dynamic relation to actors leads to the prevail-

ing atmosphere of boredom on Tinder.

The affordances of the interfacial features of Tinder are

apparent to online daters, and so it is no surprise that they

are relatively aware of them. In contrast, Tinder’s algorith-

mic workings are much more opaque—most users are not

even aware of them (Narr, 2022b, p. 5344), and it is much

harder to reflect upon or influence them. Nevertheless, algo-

rithms have a significant effect on Tinder’s affordances. To

assess how they feed into the app’s imagined affordances, it

is necessary, again, to differentiate between traditional web-

sites and dating apps such as Tinder. As mentioned in the

previous chapter, dating websites’ algorithms were designed

to provide valuable matches, and they were more transpar-

ent to users (by and large, users understood how, for exam-

ple, OkCupid’s matching score algorithm worked). Users

valued this and were trusting of the algorithm (Narr, 2022b,

pp. 5344–5345). Conversely, Tinder’s (and other dating

apps’) algorithms are of a proprietary nature. As shown in

the previous chapter, Tinder’s proprietary algorithm is sup-

posed to stimulate a certain degree of activity by luring

users out of potential states of passivity and discouraging

them to overuse the app, to keep them relatively but not

wholly satisfied (Courtois & Timmermans, 2018). The aim

is for users to generate data to be collected and analyzed,

and to create incentives for buying a subscription.

Consequently, the imagined affordances of Tinder’s algo-

rithm are markedly different from those of OkCupid in the

2000s, for instance. Tinder’s algorithm is perceived mainly

negatively. Based on interviews and a close analysis of

Reddit forums, Narr (2022b) has concluded that Tinder’s

algorithm is imagined as being manipulative and fostering

addictive swiping patterns. Users believe that the very pur-

pose of the app’s algorithm is to manipulate them into buy-

ing a subscription, and that it is designed to get people

addicted (Narr, 2022b, pp. 5347–5348). While these percep-

tions are not completely unfounded—one purpose of the

algorithm, as can be inferred indirectly, is to keep users

active—such algorithmic imaginaries do not take into con-

sideration that the Tinder algorithm not only entices activity,

but also aims to prevent excessive swiping behavior

(Courtois & Timmermans, 2018). Moreover, subscriptions

are just one way the company monetizes on its users, the

other being the gathering, analysis, and exploitation of user

data. These blind spots in the imagined affordances of the

Tinder algorithm are most likely due to the mistrust gener-

ated by the secrecy surrounding it. Nevertheless, the fact

that this algorithm is imagined as addictive and

Berger 7

manipulatory shapes user attitudes, moods, and behavior, as

evidenced in widespread cynicism, resignation, or irritation

among users (Narr, 2022b). All in all, these algorithmic

workings are much less apparent to online daters than the

interfacial features. And it is even less clear to them how the

imagined affordances of the Tinder algorithm (envisioned as

being manipulatory and addictive) contribute to their own

sentiments of cynicism, resignation, and irritation—and to

enticing them to keep using the platform precisely through

dissatisfaction (Narr, 2022b). The next chapter will turn to

the question whether users are able to mitigate these nega-

tively perceived tendencies.

Everyday Practices for Mitigating the

Negative Effects of Using Tinder

The previous chapters have highlighted several negative ten-

dencies on Tinder: rendering certain groups invisible, users

objectifying others and themselves, the prevailing atmo-

sphere of boredom and cynicism on the platform, the ten-

dency of ghosting, and users’ frustration-infused imaginations

of the Tinder algorithm. Users are, at least partly, aware of

these problems, and often try to mitigate their effects with

the means in their possession. The following chapter aims to

interpret these strategies.

In everyday life, actors rely on their sedimented knowl-

edge, accumulated by participating in pragmatic situations of

action and interaction with others over the years (Schutz,

1962). While Schutz certainly admits that interactions create

intersubjective knowledge, he does not draw all the possible

conclusions. Contrarily, Jürgen Habermas’s (1987, pp. 140–

144) concept of the life-world (itself influenced by Schutz)

provides a suitable tool to understand how the life-world, as

the intersubjective social world, can provide various kinds of

resources for actors aiming to act in various situations. As

Habermas stresses, the myriad life-world interactions6 can be

divided into three different types of reproduction processes.

Cultural reproduction ensures the continuity of the knowl-

edge needed for everyday actions; social reproduction

ensures that the norms necessary for organizing social rela-

tions in a legitimate way are reproduced; and, finally, social-

ization ensures that the interactive capabilities necessary for

a competent and responsible actor are passed on from one

generation to the next (Habermas, 1987, pp. 140–141).

Without stretching the Habermasian theory too far, the third

dimension can be interpreted to include processes of self-

socialization as well, namely self-reflection. This article

argues that knowledge (typifications, categorizations,

schemes for action, and so on), social norms, and the capac-

ity for self-reflection are resources not only for the conduct

of ordinary, routine-like actions, but also to interpret and,

possibly, overcome problems in various contexts, including

online dating.

Life-world knowledge, despite processes of mediatiza-

tion, shows signs of continuity. This is evident in users

applying life-world typification when using Tinder (Ward,

2017, pp. 1653−1654) as they are unconsciously seeking

homophily.7 Certain attributes such as age are self-evident,

while typifications are used to discern traits such as person-

ality type, education level, style, or socioeconomic status

(Ward, 2017, pp. 1653−1654). Moreover, users of Tinder are

presumed to have preliminary knowledge about different

types of women/men and their typical attributes: what char-

acterizes their actions, motivations, and to what extent they

find a certain type attractive. Accordingly, van Hooff (2020,

p. 117) notes that the men in her study were always looking

for cues and signs to draw more holistic conclusions about

women—more specifically, whether they were suitable for

long-term committed relations or casual sex. All this points

to the continuity of the life-world knowledge necessary for

orientation in everyday life. However, online dating also

necessitates the creation of new knowledge (based on exist-

ing knowledge) to interpret the self-representations of oth-

ers, and, possibly, to identify personal types to which actors

feel attracted to (or not). These latter typifications are cer-

tainly mobilized when users reflect upon others who violate

everyday norms of decency.

Let us now turn to the question of whether and how users

can mitigate—by applying their life-world resources—cer-

tain negative aspects of Tinder’s affordances. A key affor-

dance of Tinder is the swipe logic. As noted by David and

Cambre (2016), the swipe logic promotes the instrumental-

ization and commodification of potential partners on the part

of self-objectifying users. However, a large proportion of

users and non-users are (at least to some extent) aware of the

workings of the swipe logic and are critical of it. For exam-

ple, Narr (2022a) has observed that many Redditors discuss-

ing the algorithms of various apps were frustrated because

they had a desire to be seen on dating applications, but were,

according to their interpretation, rendered invisible by the

algorithms. Consequently, they were trying hard to “discern

what algorithms want in order to become more visible”

(Narr, 2022a, p. 78). Furthermore, many non-users or former

users reject the visual regime of Tinder, that is, the primacy

of superfluous traits, while active users often criticize the

app’s one-dimensionality. Even those who felt themselves

visible on the platform were critical of it. For example,

according to an interviewee (female) of Newett et al. (2018,

p. 357), the visual logic of Tinder prioritizes an instrumental

orientation above emotions. Another interviewee (male)

noted that he looks for the same physical traits both online

and in “real” life, but nonetheless bemoaned the absence of a

certain “vibe” created by physical copresence that can alter

judgments of individuals deemed unattractive when com-

pared to one’s explicit preferences (Newett et al., 2018, p.

356). Some of Palmer’s (2020, p. 135) interviewees lamented

Tinder’s provision of too large a pool of potential partners

and too many choices. There are also users who perceive

Tinder as something of a “meat market” with a dominant

hook-up culture in which they participate, while secretly

8 Social Media + Society

hoping to find a romantic partner (Christensen, 2021, p. 11).

A female interviewee of Palmer (2020, pp. 136–137, 140)

complained that using Tinder led her to be disillusioned with

love, and two male subjects stated that while they use Tinder

to initiate casual sexual encounters, they do not like that this

makes sex more and more meaningless for them. Moreover,

Olivera-La Rosa et al. (2019) note that swiping decisions are

not only based on perceptions of physical attractiveness,

since users looking at photos with discernible faces also

make judgments based on perceptions of moral character. As

such, first impressions extracted from faces are linked to

judgments about physical attractivity and, beyond that, judg-

ments on moral character. All this suggests that while invis-

ibility, (self-)objectification and superficiality are real and

immanent problems of Tinder, many users are reflexively

aware of the visual regime and the swipe logic and how it

negatively affects them.

These criticisms reveal that Tinderers reflecting on the

app draw on their knowledge about themselves and the life-

world norms of reciprocity, which prescribes treating people

as individuals, rather than as objects, and, on a more funda-

mental level, to acknowledge their existence. This is a sign of

the continuity and legitimacy of these life-world norms. But

it could be argued that the scope of these critical reflections

is limited, since they may just be kept to oneself, or discussed

among friends, acquaintances, family, and perhaps on online

forums. While being aware of the swipe logic (and discuss-

ing it with others) may or may not mitigate its negative

effects on the individual, these criticisms almost never trans-

late to changes in the app.8

The affordance of ghosting is a double-edged sword, as it

can conveniently serve one’s own needs, while also causing

much harm if one is ghosted. The norms of common courtesy

and mutual respect are important for the stability of everyday

life (Giddens, 1984, p. 64; Goffman, 1956; Jacobsen &

Kristiansen, 2014), and ghosting is a breach of them.

Paradoxically, most users have experienced the negative

consequences of ghosting, but nevertheless report having

ghosted others before. Reasons for doing so include bore-

dom, cynicism, or experiences of negative reactions (mostly

by men) to honest explanations of why they did not wish to

move forward (Narr & Luong, 2023). It is clear that users’

(self-)reflectivity is limited here. On one hand, many of them

bemoan instances where they were ghosted by others—this

itself is a sign that they consider reciprocal life-world norms

to be legitimate. On the other hand, since the app makes it

compellingly easy to ghost others, this reflectivity most

likely will not lead to changes in users’ behavior, and there-

fore the norms of decency are, effectively, not generalized.

As a further negative tendency, Tinder as a platform is

infamous for unwanted sexual solicitations, as well as sex-

ist and hostile messages (Narr & Luong, 2023, p. 2;

Thompson, 2018). While such breaches of civility are also

present in “offline” encounters, they are easier to carry out

through the app due to its affordances. Countermeasures on

the part of affected individuals include blocking the other

or ridiculing them on other platforms (Brightwell, 2019;

Hess & Flores, 2018). Regarding the latter, the alarming

frequency of toxic masculine performances on Tinder

(Thompson, 2018) has led to the creation of Instagram

pages dedicated to the subversion of the power relations

between the genders (such as “Tinder Nightmares” or

“Feminist Tinder”) by ridiculing such practices (Brightwell,

2019; Hess & Flores, 2018). Inherent in these posts are,

again, norms of reciprocity and typification knowledge of

how to identify misogynistic males. One declared purpose

of these pages is “education,” since they aim to show, by

the power of ridicule, how not to behave. Certainly, the

scope of these pages is larger than in the case of reflection

in private circles, but whether they can attain their educa-

tional goal of changing the behavior of males who are

showing signs of toxic masculinity is debatable.

The interfacial features of Tinder, such as the swipe logic

or the ease of ghosting, are relatively apparent to users, and

it is no wonder that many have vocal opinions on them, or try

to resist them with the means at their disposal. The algorith-

mic workings of the app are, however, much harder to com-

prehend. If users intend to reflect on Tinder’s algorithm, they

need to create new knowledge—however, the strategies of

resistance generated by this novel knowledge may often be

problematic. This is exemplified in the case of certain tech-

savvy users of Tinder, who try to interpret and counter its

algorithm. Because the Tinder algorithm is proprietary,

Redditors have to imagine how it works and what its effects

on user behavior are. A central element of their interpretation

is that the algorithm is exploitative, manipulatory, and addic-

tive, and because of that they try to outsmart it. How to

“game” the algorithm is, as Narr (2022b) explains, one of the

most important questions of subreddits dedicated to Tinder.

One strategy often mentioned by Redditors is to swipe left

excessively (also on people users find attractive to increase

their purported attractivity score), because they believe that

they will see more attractive profiles this way (Narr, 2022b,

p. 5350). This strategy is somewhat counterproductive, as it

shows signs of an instrumental attitude toward others and to

oneself: Swiping left on others just to increase the attractivity

score of oneself is to treat others simply as means to an end

(whether this strategy is successful or not) and to suppress

one’s own inclinations. The instrumental tendencies inherent

in strategies of outsmarting the app do not contribute to

changes in its logic; they only reinforce the culture of instru-

mental mentality also present in pick-up lines, generic mes-

sages, and misogynist tendencies.

Paradoxically, research has shown that distrust in online

dating algorithms (displayed, for example, by Redditors

striving to outsmart the Tinder algorithm) may be associated

with a lower probability of success on the app. Based on a

quantitative study, Sharabi has pointed out that online daters

who were more trusting of the respective app’s algorithm

were more likely to find a partner (Sharabi, 2021, p. 942).

Berger 9

The reason for this was that “believing in algorithms was

associated with communication behaviors and perceptions

that are known to function as catalysts for successful rela-

tionship development in person” (Sharabi, 2021, p. 942).

Research participants inclined to self-disclosure trusted the

algorithm more and had a larger chance to find a partner on

the app they used. This signals the power of trust, (self-per-

ceived) honest interactions, and communicative action

(Habermas, 1984), rather than the instrumental attitudes put

forward in strategies of gaming Tinder. However, the wide

spread of instrumental attitudes and strategies signals distur-

bances in the reproduction of interactive skills.

To sum up, users of Tinder are often aware of its rather

gloomy tendencies, and try to reflect upon and resist them.

However, their criticisms and strategies to counter Tinder are

limited in terms of their resources, scope, and effect. Other

strategies may, by their very nature, be misguided, as they

display instrumental attitudes. The present and previous

chapters have highlighted several paradoxes and types of

ambivalence in the Tinder experience. The next chapter turns

to the question of how to interpret these.

Dualisms in the Tinder Experience

So far, this examination has uncovered the typical external

circumstances of using Tinder (mediatization and the algo-

rithmic governance of dating), the typical imagined affor-

dances of the app, users’ typical attitudes and moods, as well

as the possibilities and limitations of reflection and criti-

cism. These findings also highlight the ambivalence of the

Tinder experience, as expressed in a number of dualisms.

The dualisms include the opposition between the algo-

rithm’s aim to restrict users and keep them active and their

own needs, the dualism between trust and distrust, the desire

for quality matches and counterproductive instrumental

strategies, alongside the need for courtesy and the frequent

lack thereof. This chapter will thus seek to explore the inher-

ent ambivalence of the Tinder experience by unearthing not

the thematic oppositions mentioned above but the more fun-

damental contradictions.

All the affordances of the application—whether restric-

tions or possibilities, interfacial features or algorithms, or the

way they are perceived, interpreted, conceived, and felt by

users—point toward three fundamental dualisms in user

experience. Users oscillate between the opposing extreme

poles of three dichotomous pairs: superficiality versus depth,

reflectivity and rationality versus emotions and affectivity,

and instrumental mentality versus striving for long-term rela-

tions felt as genuine. Swiping is characterized by the duality

of superficiality and depth. Superficiality stems from the

visual logic of Tinder’s interface, which prompts users to

swipe left or right, mostly on the basis of profile photos

(David & Cambre, 2016). People’s worth on the app is, to a

large extent, simply a matter of looks. However, the ability of

users to infer a number of other attributes from profile images

makes the process less superficial, since it both supposes and

mobilizes complex, albeit often tacit and unreflected life-

world knowledge (Ward, 2017). Users not only look for phys-

ical attractiveness, but also make judgments based on

perceptions of moral character (Olivera-La Rosa et al., 2019).

Moreover, users of Tinder are presumed to have preliminary

ideas about different types of women/men and their typical

attributes: what characterizes their actions, motivations, and

to what extent they find a certain type attractive. Accordingly,

van Hooff (2020, p. 117) notes that the men in her study were

always looking for cues and signs to draw more holistic con-

clusions about women—more specifically, whether they were

suitable for long-term committed relations or casual sex.

Because they make holistic assessments of other people pos-

sible (Krüger & Spilde, 2020, p. 1407), dating apps reinvigo-

rate the “gut feeling.” In other words, Tinder is a curious

amalgam of superficiality and (latent) depth.

A second fundamental dualism in the experience of Tinder

is that users constantly oscillate between states of reflectivity

and rationality on one hand, and their visceral emotions on

the other. Rationality here is understood merely as a reflec-

tive assessment or setting of criteria, while emotions refer to

unreflected affects and impulses. On one hand, Tinder users

are expected to be reflexive, aware of their own preferences,

and capable of responding to questions such as “What gender

am I interested in?,” “What is the maximum geographical

distance that I find acceptable?,” “What is the preferable age

of my partner?,” “What kind of person am I seeking and for

what reason?,” “What kind of people am I attracted to/

repulsed by?,” “What traits (as depicted by photos and self-

presentations) characterize the former/latter?,” “What kind

of images should I upload?,” What kind of “information

should I provide in order to make a favorable impression on

people that I find attractive?.” Whereas in “offline” everyday

life, we are less reflective of our preferences and our ideas of

effective self-presentation, using Tinder proficiently sup-

poses new competencies (Hess & Flores, 2018, p. 1089;

Ranzini & Lutz, 2017, p. 82). However, unlike several dating

websites, Tinder does not allow users to filter searches by

more fine-grained criteria (e.g., education level, occupation,

skin color, religion, and so on)—so the algorithm offers

matches solely based on geographical distance, age, and gen-

der (Ward, 2017, p. 1648), and possibly on the attractivity

score unknown to the user (Courtois & Timmermans, 2018,

p. 6; Narr & Luong, 2023, p. 12). This, in comparison with

the dating websites of the 2000s, reduces the role of reflec-

tivity and compels users to make more “intuitive” and vis-

ceral decisions when evaluating profile images and short

introductory texts. To some extent, the much-criticized swipe

logic also counteracts rationality, as Tinder requires simple

yes or no choices (swipe right or left) from users, and leaves

no room for in-between options, shifting the emphasis to

impulsivity and affectivity in decision-making.9 While

Tinder puts greater emphasis on visceral and affect-driven

decisions, it does not rule out reflectivity. The degree of

10 Social Media + Society

users’ rationality may differ according to their goals; if some-

one seeks a long-term love relationship, for example, they

may prioritize “smart” decisions, while others only looking

for a hook-up may just go with the first willing person they

find attractive. However, even a higher degree of rationality

needs affectivity (i.e., a smart dating decision will require

one to consider one’s own and the other’s emotions), and

even visceral decisions require some degree of reflectivity

(conscious strategies for hooking up). Tinder users are con-

stantly torn between rationality and affects, and these con-

flicting motives shape the unique experience of the app.

The third fundamental dualism concerns how people relate

to others (and by implication to themselves): Whether they

consider them to be mere means to achieve their selfish ends, or

as genuine individuals with their own needs who deserve to be

engaged with in an honest way. This duality is by no means a

novel phenomenon initiated by dating apps, and adherents of

critical theory have referred to the primacy of instrumental

thinking in modernity under various labels (Habermas, 1984;

Horkheimer, 2014). Habermas (1984, pp. 285–286), for exam-

ple, draws a distinction between strategic and communicative

action. The former considers other actors simply as means (or

as obstacles) to egoistically set ends. Strategic action only

regards other people’s feelings and needs if they are relevant to

reaching the goal at hand. Therefore, strategic action is not only

bound up with deception and Machiavellianism, but also with

the objectification and, possibly, the dehumanization of others,

as well as with various forms of oppression. During communi-

cative action, however, actors cooperate with each other to

mutually define and interpret the situation at hand (in terms of

truth, moral rightness, and authenticity). While communicative

action in itself does not guarantee more humane relations, it at

least renders them possible. If people treat each other merely as

instruments for satisfying their own needs, they will not be able

to establish relationships they perceive as committed and genu-

ine, even if this is a self-declared goal. A life-word permeated

by strategic action—which in the least-worst case would be

restricted to the spheres of politics and the economy—would

thus be a pathological one indeed (Habermas, 1987).

The instrumental attitude central to (late) modern societ-

ies is clearly present and further enhanced on Tinder (and

other dating apps), as evidenced by the predominance of

visuality and the swiping logic. Strategic tendencies on

Tinder are apparent in efforts to outsmart the app algorithm,

in generic hook-up and conversational lines, in rendering

certain groups invisible, in tendencies of (self-)objectifica-

tion, and in the treatment of others simply as flesh. Tinder’s

very logic enables users to perceive others simply as (pos-

sible) means to satisfy their goals (for example, sexual

needs, the need for positive feedback, or the need to find a

“trophy” partner who will function as a status symbol), even

if these needs are quite often left unfulfilled (as evidenced in

not getting matches, not reaching out to the other after a

match, dates not going the way one expects, being ghosted,

and so on). The application’s visual logic reinforces

this attitude in everyone, regardless of gender, age, or sexual

orientation, and reduces other individuals to bodies or sim-

ply body parts to be consumed (Illouz, 2019). Since the

instrumental mentality leads to systematically distorted

communication (Habermas, 1984, pp. 332–333), its preva-

lence not only thwarts the possibility of committed relations

to others, but also that of genuine knowledge of oneself and

the realization and articulation of one’s real needs. While

Tinder is imbued with an instrumental attitude toward oth-

ers—which also creeps into users’ relations to themselves—

many users also clearly have a need to find long-term

intimate relationships. This is manifested in the previously

cited critiques of Tinder’s visual logic and users’ attempts to

resist it. Strategic action may be counterproductive here.

The fact that users willing to engage in self-disclosure are

more likely to have dates evaluated as successful and to find

a partner serves as evidence of the power of communicative

action in online dating (Sharabi, 2021). Communicative

action and acts of self-disclosure perceived as authentic

draw on life-world resources (norms of reciprocity, knowl-

edge of others and oneself, self-reflection, interactive skills,

and so on). However, the spread of strategic attitudes and

behavior—or, as Habermas (1987) puts it, the colonization

of the life-world by system spheres such as the economy—

in contemporary life-worlds may be a threat to these cogni-

tive, moral, emotional, and self-reflective resources. Tinder

and dating apps are no exception: While they do not make

communicative action impossible, many of their affordances

foster rather instrumental attitudes and actions.

Although related, the dualisms of superficiality and depth,

reflexivity and intuitive affectuality, and instrumentality and

communicative action are fundamental in that none of these

pairs can be reduced to any of the others. For instance, prac-

ticing depth in the perception and evaluation of others while

swiping does not necessarily translate into the ability to form

committed relations, since the typifications used in percep-

tion may be indebted to instrumentality (classifying women

in misogynist terms, stereotypical categories of certain racial

groups, and so on). In addition, rationalism, conceived here

purely as reflexivity and deliberate thought, may either stem

from an instrumental/strategic rationality imbued with a ten-

dency to (self)objectification, or from a communicative

rationality paired with the ability to reflect on one’s needs

and connect to others. The counterpart of reflexivity, namely

affectual impulses, is also variegated. This pole may include

a variety of emotions, from excitement, sexual desire, roman-

tic affection, boredom, frustration, and hostility to cyni-

cism—which is why affectivity in itself does not lead to

perceived authenticity in intimate relations. Furthermore, an

instrumental attitude toward others may be rational or not: It

may be intertwined with a reflected, rationalized strategy or

be simply applied in a habitually and unreflected manner to

satisfy unreflected needs.

Tinderers may oscillate between the extremes of superfici-

ality and depth, rationality and emotions, and instrumentality

Berger 11

and the need for long-term relations perceived as mutually

genuine and committed. For users of Tinder, being subjected

to these oppositions may be demanding, even more so as

there is no single dichotomy but three sets of extreme poles.

Further research is needed to shed light on and interpret how

actors cope with this ambivalence. However, from a theoreti-

cal point of view, several strategies are conceivable. For

example, some may try to establish a balance between the

various poles: paying attention to looks, but also trying to

evaluate the profile, being rational and emotional at the same

time, and not giving up their selfish goals while still trying to

find “true love.” Alternatively, users may try to settle perma-

nently on one or the other poles: making constantly “smart”

or affect-driven decisions, or only aiming to satisfy sexual

needs and treating others as mere bodies, and so on. Whether

these constant states (balancing in between or sticking to one

or more extremes) are possible is an open question, as all the

affordances of Tinder work against them. Others may try to

construct the poles as temporal differences—for instance, a

hook-up indebted to instrumental logic may lead, after a cer-

tain time, to a committed relationship. Still others may just

give in to the flow and oscillate constantly, according to their

moods and drives, between the extremes of the three funda-

mental dualisms. These contradictions and the underlying

uncertainties lead to the final question, namely whether dat-

ing apps enable people to establish meaningful and engaged

romantic relations.

Conclusion

This article, as a novel contribution, interpreted the experi-

ence of Tinder from a materialist phenomenological point

of view, against the background of the mediatization of the

life-world and shifts in how online platforms cultivate data

and monetize on their users. It questioned how the applica-

tion’s affordances are created in the dynamic relation

between developers/owners, interfacial features, algo-

rithms, and users, and how the imagined affordances influ-

ence actors’ typical attitudes and actions. The article also

scrutinized users’ ability to reflect upon the app’s affor-

dances and their strategies of resisting certain problems

associated with it. The analysis has shown that many

Tinderers are aware of the negative tendencies of the appli-

cation, and that by reflecting on them, they use the cogni-

tive, normative, and self-reflective life-world resources

available to them, or create new knowledge. An additional

novel contribution of the article is that it further elaborated

on the inherent dualisms (superficiality versus depth, ratio-

nality versus affectivity, instrumental versus communica-

tive orientation) of the Tinder experience.

As the chapters of this article have shown, owners’ and

developers’ intentions feed into users’ attitudes and behavior

through the mediation of the application’s imagined affor-

dances. It is the interest of the platform’s owners to keep

users relatively active, and for them not to settle down with

one match, but to keep looking. Thus, the generation of ana-

lyzable and monetizable data does not come to a halt. The

Tinder interface with its captivating flow serves the purpose

of attracting users’ attention and to habituate them to using

the app. The swipe logic (David & Cambre, 2016) as an

imagined affordance of the app is shaped by objective prop-

erties of the interface (itself being a mediator of corporate

interests). The swipe logic manifests in Tinderers’ tendency

to objectify others and themselves,10 and to treat others as

goods to be consumed. Similarly, the affordance of ghosting

is certainly not in opposition to the platform owners’/devel-

opers’ interests, as ghosting likely results in more swiping

and (for the lucky ones) matching. Along with the swipe

logic, the affordance of ghosting leads to multiple conversa-

tion threads, clichéd interactions, and a sense of blasé and

boredom (Narr & Luong, 2023). In a similar manner, surveil-

lance capitalism makes it essential for platform owners aim-

ing to capitalize on users’ data to maintain secrecy regarding

the workings of their app (Zuboff, 2019). For many users,

this secrecy translates into resignation or ignorance, while

others who actively try to grasp the algorithm’s logic believe

it to be manipulatory and prone to generating addictive usage

patterns—these imagined algorithmic affordances not only

lead to irritation, but also produce instrumentally minded

strategies of outsmarting the app (Narr, 2022b).

In all cases, it is apparent that Tinder increases user

engagement through dissatisfaction by enticing counterpro-

ductive swiping and interactional strategies (Narr, 2022b, p.

5349). The app’s interface and algorithm work in tandem to

ensure that users do not quit swiping—even though, from a

common-sense point of view, it would be in the best interest

of users looking for a long-term relationship to simply stop

using the app if a promising new person comes along, rather

than becoming entangled in multiple interactional (or dating)

threads. Such self-limitations would surely run counter to the

interests of platform owners, but this option is rarely real-

ized, as all the affordances work against it.

These tendencies highlight that the mediatization of dat-

ing is entangled with the colonization of the life-world, albeit

in a novel way. Habermas (1987, Chapter VIII), in his diag-

nosis of (late) modernity, has highlighted that the life-world,

being the home of communicative action, is endangered by

the system spheres of the economy and politics. According to

him, systemic processes invade the life-world by infusing

everyday interactions with the steering media of system

spheres. Money and power permeate the life-world and

threaten its reproduction by structuring social relations,

norms, and roles according to their logic, rather than through

communicative action. That said, this article highlighted a

more subtle and less apparent mode of colonizing the life-

world. In the context of dating apps such as Tinder, this colo-

nization does not take the form of steering media invading

the life-world directly; instead, it is about shaping user

behavior, mentalities, and attitudes through perceived affor-

dances created by users in response to app properties serving

12 Social Media + Society

corporate interests. This colonization of partner selection has

similar effects to the “direct” colonization by money and

power: a distortion of communicative action and the promo-

tion of strategic/instrumental attitudes that are counterpro-

ductive for everyday actors but monetizable for corporations.

What we witness here is how the interests of profit-oriented

corporations feed into users’ perceptions, their creation of

imagined affordances, their emotions, attitudes, and, ulti-

mately, behavior on the platform, with the result that users’

behavior and strategies often do not serve their own best

interests but those of platform owners.

Mediatization, however, is a complex and ambivalent

process, far from being reducible to the tendency of coloni-

zation. This because many online daters, as pragmatic life-

world actors, are aware of the problems surrounding Tinder

or other dating apps. As the article has shown, the interfacial

features and affordances of Tinder, although often producing

arguably harmful effects, may also lead users to become

reflexive and to strive for long-term relations thought of as

committed and authentic. By trying to reflect on the logic of

the app and to alleviate its negative effects, users rely on the

life-world resources available to them. The very dualisms of

Tinder (superficiality and depth, reflectivity and affectivity,

instrumental and communicative attitudes) make this possi-

ble—whether intended by developers and owners or not. To

resist the colonization of dating, actors can take advantage of

these dualisms. Those looking for long-time romantic rela-

tionships should evaluate others’ profiles not just based on

their looks but more holistically (leaving objectification

behind as much as possible). They should strike a balance

between rationality and affectivity, making “smart” deci-

sions while considering their emotions, a balance between

“sense and sensibility” in times of mediatization. Most

importantly, even if users have had experiences of disap-

pointment (for example, being ghosted), they ought not be

afraid to disclose themselves and engage in honest interac-

tions with others without much of the instrumental mind-set,

and simply stop swiping if someone they consider special

comes along.

The analysis, however, has also shown that the scope,

resources, and effects of critical engagements of everyday

actors are limited. This also constrains the possibilities for

taking advantage of the inherent dualisms of Tinder. Any

criticism aimed at initiating change or simply to mitigate the

negative effects of online dating apps should shun instru-

mental attitudes and be firmly based on the logic of commu-

nicative action. To gain traction, these voices uttering

critiques in the spirit of communicative action ought to be

strengthened. How this can be achieved is beyond the scope

of this article, but it is surely not possible without scholarly

education of wider audiences. Whether such initiatives can

have a lasting impact is an open question, given the wide

spread of instrumental attitudes. Nevertheless, by linking

reflexivity and the need for (long-term) emotional bonds per-

ceived as mutual and genuine with a non-instrumental

attitude, it may yet be possible to secure a role for emotions

in a mediatized world.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express his gratitude to Dániel Havrancsik,

Ádám Havas, Ágoston Fáber, and the two anonymous reviewers for

their insightful comments and suggestions.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect

to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work

was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It was also supported by the project

titled “EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00007: Young researchers

from talented students—Fostering scientific careers in higher educa-

tion,” co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund)

within the framework of Programme Széchenyi 2020; also supported

by the ÚNKP-22-5-PTE-1453 New National Excellence Program of

the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the

National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

ORCID iD

Viktor Berger https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1263-6722

Notes

1. The market for dating apps is highly segmented. But as it

claims the widest user base globally, Tinder provides an ideal

platform for studying online dating.

2. It is noteworthy that Schutz himself did not conduct any

empirical studies, for example, when outlining the figure of

the stranger and constructing the model of the “well informed

citizen” (Schutz, 1964a, 1964b). For an explicitly phenom-

enological inquiry building also on previous findings, see Sik

(2021; cf. Havrancsik, 2023).

3. Media, since the invention of writing, have always been impor-

tant in the constitution of life-worlds (Ayaß, 2014), and espe-

cially since the rise of modernity (Couldry & Hepp, 2017);

however, this article limits itself to the mediatization processes

of the present.

4. Although Tinder’s algorithm aims to restrict (non-paying)

users’ swiping and limits the possible number of likes per day,

it also has built-in incentives to keep users active: by prompt-

ing them to not settle for one match, but to keep swiping and

getting new matches (Courtois & Timmermans, 2018).

5. This is evidenced by the curvilinear (inverted U form) rela-

tionship between swiping activity and profile interestingness,

as well as swiping activity and matches, meaning that inter-

esting profiles and matches are at their maximum if users are

relatively active on the platform but not excessively active

(Courtois & Timmermans, 2018, p. 13).

6. Communicative actions, to be precise; see the next chapter.

7. On the relation between social mobility, homophily, and part-

ner selection, see Erát et al. (2022).

Berger 13

8. And even if they seemingly do, the original intentions of these

critiques are hijacked by corporate interests. As Krüger and

Spilde have noted, Tinder has implemented some features

aimed at repairing the damage done by the swipe logic to the

ideas of love and romance, for example, the rewind function,

the “super like” option, or the ability to see who liked the user.

Interestingly, all these features are only available to paying

members who are thus able, to some extent, to buy themselves

out of the swipe logic. Consequently, Tinder cynically mon-

etizes the persistence of traditional lifeworld norms on dating

and romance (Krüger & Spilde, 2020, pp. 1404–1407).

9. This only applies to the free version of the app, since subscrib-

ers may revisit profiles on which they previously swiped left

and modify their decisions.

10. This tendency of self-objectification is evidenced in the results

of Strubel and Petrie (2017), who highlight that users of Tinder

(women and men alike) have a higher tendency of self-objec-

tification than non-users of online dating services. They were,

to a significant degree, less satisfied with their face and body,

more inclined to compare their physical appearance with oth-

ers, and more prone to being ashamed of their body.

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Author Biography

Viktor Berger (PhD, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary) is an

Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Pécs. His

research interests include phenomenology of the online world, soci-

ological theories of space, and history of sociological thought.

A társkeresés mediatizálódása és a Tinder

Article

Jan 2025

Viktor Berger

E tanulmány a társkeresés mediatizálódása kapcsán a Tinder felhasználói élményét értelmezi materialista fenomenológiai nézőpontból. Eszerint az applikáció affordanciái a felhasználói felület tulajdonságainak, az algoritmikus strukturációnak és a felhasználók észleleteinek viszonyrendszerében jönnek létre. A Tinder felhasználói élménye a vizualitás dominanciájával, a gyorsasággal, az (ön)tárgyiasító tendenciákkal, valamint a cinizmus és az unalom atmoszférájával írható le. Emellett az applikáció a reflexivitás és az impulzivitás, a felszínesség és a mélység, az instrumentális beállítódás és az autentikusként elgondolt kapcsolatok iránti vágyódás dualizmusaival jellemezhető. Ugyanakkor azonban a felhasználók egy része a meglévő életvilágbeli tudásuk alapján képes ellenállni a negatív tendenciáknak. Az írás kitekintésszerűen és szisztematikus igény nélkül arra is utalni kíván, hogy a magyar kontextus lehetséges empirikus vizsgálatához milyen adalékokat nyújtanak az elméleti megfontolások.

Hate to date? An exploratory study Burnout syndrome in the context of dating Hate to date? Eine explorative Studie zum Burnout-Syndrom im Dating-Kontext

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Full-text available

May 2024

Wera Aretz

The advent of dating apps has changed the way many people date. Dating apps are advertised as bringing people together and making it easier to form both short-term and long-term relationships. However, many people are increasingly facing frustrations and challenges. The phenomenon of 'dating burnout' has only anecdotal evidence and appears to describe a feeling of emotional exhaustion accompanied by increasing depersonalisation and a sense of reduced performance in dating. The aim of the present study is to investigate the phenomenon scientifically for the first time and to identify various influencing factors and their predictive power for dating burnout syndrome using a sample of N = 2465 dating users and non-users. The results show that a proportion of 14% of respondents are affected by dating burnout and that both specific dating experiences (e.g. the feeling of lack of success, the experience of monotony due to repetitive processes, the experience of ghosting or the feeling of a negative cost-benefit balance) and individual characteristics of users (such as self-esteem and fear of commitment) contribute to dating burnout. The implications of the findings are discussed from a theoretical and practical perspective. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Das Aufkommen von Dating-Apps hat das Dating-Verhalten vieler Menschen stark verändert. Dating-Apps werben damit, Menschen miteinander in Kontakt zu bringen und die Bildung sowohl kurzfristiger als auch langfristiger Beziehungen zu erleichtern. Doch viele Menschen sehen sich zunehmend mit Frustrationen und Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Das Phänomen "Dating-Burnout" hat bisher nur eine anekdotische Evidenz und umschreibt offenbar ein Gefühl der emotionalen Erschöpfung, das mit einer zunehmenden Depersonalisation und dem Gefühl reduzierter Leistung beim Dating einhergeht. Das Ziel der vorliegen Studie besteht darin, das Phänomen erstmalig wissenschaftlich zu untersuchen und anhand einer Stichprobe von N = 2465 Dating-Nutzer*innen und Nichtnutzer*innen verschiedene Einflussfaktoren und deren Vorhersagekraft auf das Dating-Burnout-Syndrom zu ermitteln. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Anteil von 14 Prozent der Befragten von Dating-Burnout betrof-fen sind und sowohl spezifische Dating-Erfahrungen (z. B. das Gefühl der Erfolgslosigkeit, Erfahrung von Eintönigkeit durch repetitive Abläufe, das Erleben von Ghosting oder das Gefühl einer negative Kosten-Nutzen-Bilanzierung) sowie individuelle Merkmale der Nutzer*innen (wie Selbstwert und Bindungsängstlichkeit) zu Dating-Burnout beitragen. Die Bedeutung der Ergebnisse wird aus theoretischer und praktischer Sicht diskutiert.

Heft 1, S. 13-38, verfügbar unter: www.journal-bmp.de

Article

Jan 2024
J BUS PSYCHOL

Wera Aretz

The advent of dating apps has changed the way many people date. Dating apps are advertised as bringing people together and making it easier to form both short-term and long-term relationships. However, many people are increasingly facing frustrations and challenges. The phenomenon of 'dating burnout' has only anecdotal evidence and appears to describe a feeling of emotional exhaustion accompanied by increasing depersonalisation and a sense of reduced performance in dating. The aim of the present study is to investigate the phenomenon scientifically for the first time and to identify various influencing factors and their predictive power for dating burnout syndrome using a sample of N = 2465 dating users and non-users. The results show that a proportion of 14% of respondents are affected by dating burnout and that both specific dating experiences (e.g. the feeling of lack of success, the experience of monotony due to repetitive processes, the experience of ghosting or the feeling of a negative cost-benefit balance) and individual characteristics of users (such as self-esteem and fear of commitment) contribute to dating burnout. The implications of the findings are discussed from a theoretical and practical perspective. Keywords: online dating, dating burnout, well-being ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Das Aufkommen von Dating-Apps hat das Dating-Verhalten vieler Menschen stark verändert. Dating-Apps werben damit, Menschen miteinander in Kontakt zu bringen und die Bildung sowohl kurzfristiger als auch langfristiger Beziehungen zu erleichtern. Doch viele Menschen sehen sich zunehmend mit Frustrationen und Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Das Phänomen "Dating-Burnout" hat bisher nur eine anekdotische Evidenz und umschreibt offenbar ein Gefühl der emotionalen Erschöpfung, das mit einer zunehmenden Depersonalisation und dem Gefühl reduzierter Leistung beim Dating einhergeht. Das Ziel der vorliegen Studie besteht darin, das Phänomen erstmalig wissenschaftlich zu untersuchen und anhand einer Stichprobe von N = 2465 Dating-Nutzer*innen und Nichtnutzer*innen verschiedene Einflussfaktoren und deren Vorhersagekraft auf das Dating-Burnout-Syndrom zu ermitteln. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Anteil von 14 Prozent der Befragten von Dating-Burnout betrof-fen sind und sowohl spezifische Dating-Erfahrungen (z. B. das Gefühl der Erfolgslosigkeit, Erfahrung von Eintönigkeit durch repetitive Abläufe, das Erleben von Ghosting oder das Gefühl einer negative Kosten-Nutzen-Bilanzierung) sowie individuelle Merkmale der Nutzer*innen (wie Selbstwert und Bindungsängstlichkeit) zu Dating-Burnout beitragen. Die Bedeutung der Ergebnisse wird aus theoretischer und praktischer Sicht diskutiert.

Platformed Ritual in Emotions: (Dys)functional Construction of Intimacy in Digital Dating in China

Article

Jan 2025

Previous studies have discussed digital dating by the “love-is-fast” metaphor and the successful and failed stories on dating platforms to debate the ideal of modern intimacy; however, the conceptualization of rituals and mechanisms for constructing intimacy in a continuum of online and offline everyday life has been left unstudied. Drawing on Eva Illouz’s argument on a regime of performativity of emotions and ritual scholarship, this study investigates the staged (dys)functioning of platform-constructed acts. Based on 35 interviews and 14-month user-led cross-platform walkthroughs, this study examines how users deployed and interpreted the platformed monetized ritual in emotions to (de)code and (de)construct intimacy, and how users act on encountering the “unconcealed concealment” of mundane considerations, as well as the discontinuity of online/offline experiences of constructing intimacy. Reflecting on users’ choices and gender dynamics entangling the hybrid social orientations of materialism, individualism, and intervention of social institutions, this study underscores the fragile mechanism of digital dating and users’ trade-offs in the conundrum of heterosexual intimacy.

Expressive Avatars: Vitality in Virtual Worlds

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Full-text available

Apr 2023

Critics have argued that human-controlled avatar interactions fail to facilitate the kinds of expressivity and social understanding afforded by our physical bodies. We identify three claims meant to justify the supposed expressive limits of avatar interactions compared to our physical interactions. First, “The Limited Expressivity Claim”: avatars have a more limited expressive range than our physical bodies. Second, “The Inputted Expressivity Claim”: any expressive avatarial behaviour must be deliberately inputted by the user. Third, “The Decoding Claim”: users must infer or figure out the expressive meaning of human-controlled avatars’ behaviour through cognitively onerous processes. With the aim of critically assessing all three claims, we analyze data collected through observations of and interviews with expert players of the avatar-based video game League of Legends. Focusing on Daniel Stern’s (2010) notion of vitality, we analyze the participants’ descriptions of seeing and interacting with other avatars during performance. Our analysis shows that the informants experience human-based avatarial interactions as qualitatively different than interactions with bots, that the informants see the movements of other players’ avatars as having different expressive styles, and that the informants actively use and manipulate this avatarial expressivity during performance. The results of our analysis, we argue, provide reasons for loosening or resisting the three claims concerning the limits of avatarial expressivity.

The coloniality of desire: revealing the desire to be seen and blind spots leveraged by data colonialism as AI manipulates the unconscious for profitable extraction on dating apps

Article

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Dec 2022

Gregory Narr

Társadalmi mobilitás és partnerszelekció

Chapter

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Dec 2022

Bored ghosts in the dating app assemblage: How dating app algorithms couple ghosting behaviors with a mood of boredom

Article

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Jan 2023

Research on ghosting has focused on individual user experiences, psychological dispositions, and attachment styles. We add to this scholarship by broadening the level of analysis to encompass what we call the “dating app assemblage” – entailing users, moods, and algorithms. Through in-depth interviews and the “walkthrough” method, we argue the dating app assemblages of Tinder and Bumble foster boring textual exchanges conducive to ghosting (cutting off communication without notice) and flaking (canceling dates at the last minute) by algorithmically creating unequal engagement. This makes it hard for users to find substantial relationships, but it aligns with the exigencies of data-driven capitalism, where more social relations can be sold when they often disappear.

Sociality and Embodiment: Online Communication During and After Covid-19

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Full-text available

Oct 2022
Found Sci

During the Covid-19 pandemic we increasingly turned to technology to stay in touch with our family, friends, and colleagues. Even as lockdowns and restrictions ease many are encouraging us to embrace the replacement of face-to-face encounters with technologically mediated ones. Yet, as philosophers of technology have highlighted, technology can transform the situations we find ourselves in. Drawing insights from the phenomenology of sociality, we consider how digitally-enabled forms of communication and sociality impact our experience of one another. In particular, we draw attention to the way in which our embodied experience of one another is altered when we meet in digital spaces, taking as our focus the themes of perceptual access, intercorporeality, shared space, transitional spaces, and self-presentation. In view of the way in which technological mediation alters various dimensions of our social encounters, we argue that digital encounters constitute their own forms of sociality requiring their own phenomenological analysis. We conclude our paper by raising some broader concerns about the very framework of thinking about digitally and non-digitally mediated social encounters simply in terms of replacement.

A párkapcsolat, a gyermeknevelés és a társadalmi tőke szerepe a szubjektív jóllét alakulásában

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May 2021

Az egyének szubjektív jóllétére ható kapcsolati tényezőket vizsgáló elemzésünket a globális COVID-19 járvány elleni védekezésben világszerte alkalmazott azon fizikai interakciókat korlátozó társadalmi gyakorlatok inspirálták, amelyeknek célja egyrészt minél inkább az egy háztartásban élők körére szűkíteni a kapcsolattartást, másrészt érdemben nehezíteni a társadalmi interakciókat a társadalmi tőke mindhárom típusában. Az elemzés alapjául szolgáló nagymintás adatfelvétel a 2016-os mikrocenzus (N=2 millió 724 ezer), ami lehetővé teszi, hogy számot adjuk mind a párkapcsolati-gyermeknevelési státusszal megragadható kapcsolati tényezők, mind a társadalmi tőke három típusában érintett kapcsolati tényezők szerepéről a szubjektív jóllét kognitív dimenziójának, az életelégedettségnek az alakulásában a 20–49 évesek körében. Elemzésünk kiindulópontját az a tény adja, hogy az életelégedettség összefügg azzal, párkapcsolatban él-e valaki (és milyen jellegűben), illetve nevel-e gyermeket a háztartásában (Rövid 2020). Elemzésünk középpontjában az a kérdés áll, hogy mennyiben érinti hasonlóképpen vagy különbözőképpen a párkapcsolati-gyermeknevelési státusz szerint elkülönülő hat háztartástípusba tartozók életelégedettségét a háztartáson kívüli fizikai kapcsolattartás. Eredményeink szerint a járványhelyzetben is érintett kapcsolati tényezők életelégedettségre gyakorolt hatása hasonlóan alakul egy-részt a szinglik és a gyermeküket egyedül nevelők körében, másrészt a párkapcsolatban élők körében, gyermek-nevelési státusztól függetlenül. A kapcsolati tényezők közül tehát a párkapcsolatnak kiemelt jelentősége van a szubjektív jóllét alakulásban, ami a párkapcsolatok minőségének, sérülékenységének mintázataira is ráirányítja a figyelmet (Erát 2020). Elemzésünk alapján hipotéziseket fogalmazzuk meg a további kutatások számára. Átfogó hipotézisünk szerint a járványhelyzet a háztartáson kívüli kapcsolati tényezőkre gyakorolt korlátozó hatásán keresztül összességében jelentős mértékben, azonban párkapcsolati-gyermeknevelési státusz szerint differenciáltan rontja az életelégedettséget a 20-49 évesek körében.

Book review: Empty Suffering: A Social Phenomenology of Depression, Anxiety and Addiction

Article