Online Dating in New Zealand: Why and how do people use Tinder?

Online dating is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. However there is a dearth of research investigating online dating in New Zealand. The research presented here explores the prevalence of online dating in New Zealand, examining motivations, attitudes and outcomes associated with online dating (Study 1). It also investigates mate selection in an online dating context using a simulation of the popular mobile dating app, Tinder (Study 2). In Study 1, students from Victoria University of Wellington completed a survey developed by the author along with scales measuring individual differences on ideal standards and sociosexual orientation. As predicted, Study 1 found that online dating is prevalent in this sample (especially using Tinder), attitudes towards it were generally positive, and those using it more were more likely to be single, more sociosexually unrestricted, and rate physical attractiveness as more important in potential partners. Study 2 investigated the use of Tinder more specifically through an experimental simulation of this mobile dating app. Participants were presented with series of attractive and unattractive faces and asked to indicate whether they would hypothetically seek further contact (click heart icon to the right of the face) or uninterested (click cross icon to the left of the face). Response times and selections were recorded. As expected, men selected more faces than women, and responded equally rapidly regardless of the attractiveness of the face. In contrast, women responded significantly faster to the unattractive faces than the attractive faces. Results were predicted and interpreted in light of parental investment theory and in the context of prior research on both online dating and speed dating.