The most recent annual convention of the American Psychological Association discussed something that couldn't be more relevant to our lives: Tinder. Yup—The dating app we all use to swipe our way to love (or just some fun). Despite the ease and convenience of the app, the presented study indicated a connection between Tinder users and negative self-image.
The study was authored by Jessica Strübel and Trent Petrie, two PhDs from the University of North Texas. They gave questionnaires to 1,317 people (1,044 women and 273 men; mostly college students) that asked about appearance, body satisfaction and self-esteem.
Only 102 of the survey's participants reported being Tinder users, but their results were interesting compared to the rest of the group. The study “found that being actively involved with Tinder, regardless of the user’s gender, was associated with body dissatisfaction, body shame, self-objectification and body monitoring, internalization of societal appearance ideals, and comparing oneself physically to others." Translation: They don't have super healthy attitudes toward their bodies. This isn't a huge surprise, as using Tinder involves making a decision about someone primarily based on their appearance.
One interesting finding was that while both genders expressed dissatisfaction with their looks, only men reported lower levels of self-esteem.
If you do use Tinder, don’t panic—these findings don't mean that using Tinder lowers your self-esteem or body image. This study only shows correlation, not causation, and it's also based on a tiny sample size.
Dr. Jess Carbino, a sociologist at Tinder, gave Her Campus the following statement on the study:
"The findings of the article cannot be considered significant or representative as a result of major methodological flaws.
Given that the authors of the study were measuring the interaction effects of Tinder use by gender, and that the sample of men and women who use Tinder was incredibly small (102: 70 female respondents and 32 male respondents), no statistically significant finding can be drawn about women or men who use Tinder relative to men or women who do not use Tinder or Tinder users generally. The sample is also highly limited in terms of the population the authors drew from to create their sample and not representative of Tinder's global user base: a state university in the Southeast and a state university in the Southwest.
Given the small sample size and unrepresentative nature of the sample, no actual findings can be established from an empirical perspective. Moreover, any serious social scientist would strongly question and doubt the validity of their results."
The study authors said themselves in a press release that there needs to be a lot more research into the effects of using dating apps, as this is one of the first studies to look into it. But as you swipe away on your phone, make sure you keep things in perspective—Someone swiping left on you will never affect your value as a person!