If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or privacy interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Sumter L. Vandenbosch L. Although the smartphone application Tinder is increasingly popular among emerging adults, no empirical study has yet investigated why emerging adults use Tinder.
Therefore, we aimed to identify the primary motivations of emerging adults to use Tinder. The study was conducted among Dutch 18β30 year old emerging adults who completed an online survey. In contrast to previously suggested, the Love motivation appeared to be a stronger motivation to use Tinder than the Casual Sex motivation. In line with literature on online dating, men were more likely to report a Casual Sex motivation for using Tinder than women.
In addition, men more frequently reported Ease of Communication and Thrill of Excitement motives. With regard to age, the motivation Love, Casual Sex and Ease of Communication were positively related to age. Finally, Tinder motivations were meaningfully related to offline encounters with Tinder matches.
Tinder should not be seen as merely a fun, hookup app without any strings attached, but as a new way for emerging adults to initiate committed romantic relationships. Notably, the findings call for a more encompassing perspective on why emerging adults use Tinder.
