Is Tinder killing your self-esteem?

Research says dating apps may especially hurt male self-esteem

More research has recently been released that gives a little more insight into the psychological effects of dating apps. Here are a few things to know:

1. You’re more likely to compare yourself to others

According to this article in Elite Daily:

To conduct their study, Strübel, along with Trent Petrie, PhD (both faculty members at the University of North Texas) and the rest of their colleagues, asked a group of 1,300 people, mostly college students, to rate how they generally felt about themselves.

Through questionnaires and self-reports with questions like “How satisfied are you with your thighs?” and “How likely are you to make physical comparisons to others?” the researchers sought to find out the respondents’ perception of their own body image and self-esteem.

What they found was super interesting. As I already alluded to before when I shared Strübel’s statement with you, dating apps seem to be detrimental to self-esteem and body image.

2. You’re more likely to be dissatisfied with your looks

According to this article in CBS News:

Compared with the people who didn’t use the app, Tinder users reported being less satisfied with their looks and having lower levels of self-worth, Jessica Strubel, an assistant professor of merchandising and digital retailing at the University of North Texas and a co-author of the study, said in a statement.

“Being actively involved with Tinder, regardless of the users’ gender, was associated with body dissatisfaction, body shame, body monitoring, internalization of societal expectations of beauty, comparing oneself physically to others and reliance on media for information on appearance and attractiveness, Strubel said.

3. Men are disproportionally affected

According to this article in Time:

That may simply be because so many more men than women use Tinder, the researchers speculate. Past research has shown that women are more discerning with their swipes than men, who swipe right more liberally. But saying yes so often with the flick of a finger comes with a risk: the much higher chance of being rejected. “The men, in essence, are put in a position that women often find themselves in, certainly in the dating scene: They’re now being evaluated and are being determined whether or not somebody is interested in them [based on their looks],” says Petrie. “Men may be more likely to get more swipe-lefts. And that can take a toll, perhaps, on those young men.”