A new study sheds light on a sad but unsurprising aspect of Tinder, one of the world’s largest dating apps. If you value commitment, most people on it are wasting your time.
Half of Tinder users in a survey said they were not using the app to find a date, while almost two-thirds said they were already in a relationship or married, NBC News reported. This creates a unique obstacle for those seeking in-person romantic encounters, much less successful long-term relationships. Many users’ intentions were so casual that they treated Tinder like a social media app, the study found.
TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY, OR THE MINORITY OF ONE
The picture gets worse when one looks at why many are on the app and others like it. Too many are trying to escape the real world because they are unsatisfied with their lives or running from personal problems.
According to these researchers, one motive was to cope with an avoidant attachment style, which is known in psychology as an insecure desire to avoid intimacy. Other users who don’t go on dates simply enjoy the confidence boost of getting a "like" or "match." This aligns with a previous survey of college students showing that a plurality use Tinder for “confidence-boosting procrastination.”
Many who do seek in-person encounters through Tinder are merely cheating. Studies have found that as many as 7% or even 10% who have casual sex through the app are in a committed relationship with someone else. Anecdotal stories suggest that being a total stranger on Tinder makes it easier for cheaters to deceive their unwitting dates about their relationship status.
Other research has linked Tinder use to “a higher need for sex but not a higher need for affiliation with a secure, loving partner,” according to Psychology Today. For some, the app is a way to explore the thrill of endless hookups without obligation to any partner. Although these users appear to be a minority, the fact that so few people are looking to meet at all means your options are not great.
The study in NBC’s report has “a silver lining,” the outlet says, which is that all users, including those looking for true love, are more likely than not to report satisfaction with Tinder. But that is only self-evaluation. Data show that couples who met online have a greater chance of divorcing in three years than those who met through friends, work, or at school.
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Many things about modern society threaten to isolate us, including a lack of shared values. For young people looking for marriage, it can be extremely difficult to form the meaningful social circles that cause the right people to find each other. But don't trust something as artificial as an app to do what normal human interactions have done for millennia.
Hudson Crozier is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.