۱- Introduction

۲- Preliminary study

۳- Study 1

۴- Study 2

۵- Study 3

۶- Study 4

۷- General discussion

References

Abstract

Five studies explored how users of online dating platforms, such as Tinder™ and Parship, are perceived by others. Participants were presented with ostensibly real profiles of Tinder™, Parship, and Facebook users and indicated how trustworthy they perceived each to be. Our hypothesis was that Tinder™ users would be perceived as less trustworthy than both Parship and Facebook users because Tinder™ is generally portrayed according to a “hook-up app” narrative. Additionally, we tested whether the lower trustworthiness attributed to Tinder™ users persists when judgments are made in a context where the association between the individuals and the online platforms in which they were presented is removed. Our hypothesis was generally supported in a preliminary study and Studies 1 to 3. Study 4 tested the limits of the effect and showed that the adverse Tinder-effect on perceived trustworthiness was diluted when several minutes of strong cognitive distraction occurred between the first encounter with the users of each app and the evaluation of their trustworthiness.

Introduction

In the last 10 to 15 years, several online social networking sites and applications (apps) have been launched which allow Internet users to connect, communicate, share information, or simply “follow” thousands of other online users. The most prominent example is Facebook, which was launched in 2004 and that by June of 2017 had an average of 1.32 billion daily active users worldwide (Facebook, 2017). Dating websites and online agencies and apps have also flourished in the market and enjoy a lot of popularity worldwide (e.g., Hogan, Dutton, & Li, 2011; Smith, 2016; Smith & Dungan, 2013). The availability of online dating platforms have changed the way romantic relationships are pursued and developed: online dating gives people access to an incomparably higher number of potential partners than conventional offline dating; it allows users to interact and communicate with potential partners, gathering personal information without having to meet face-to-face; and some platforms for online dating even offer to do a pre-selection of potential romantic partners for their users on the basis of mathematical algorithms that calculate romantic compatibility (see Finkel, Eastwick, Karney, & Reis, 2012). If in the early 2000’s there was still some stigma about online dating – with many Internet users considering that online dating was “desperate”, that many online daters lie about their marital status, and also that online dating presented some dangers due to the sharing of personal information online, facing deceit or lies, risks of emotional, physical or sexual violence (see Couch, Liamputtong, & Pitts, 2012; Madden & Lenhart, 2006; Sautter, Tippett, & Morgan, 2010), a more recent national survey conducted in the USA in 2013 shows that attitudes towards online dating have improved considerably with time, with a majority of Internet users considering it is a good way to meet people and to find better matches because the offer is very large (Smith & Duggan, 2013; Smith 2016).