Tinder users tend to be more critical of their bodies – study

MANY studies have found that people who are active on social media appear to be more critical of their bodies. Now, a new study concludes that Tinder users have similar negative views about their appearance.

Tinder users have low self-esteem and more negative views of their bodies than those who don’t use the popular dating app, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention. “The women and men who used Tinder reported higher levels of self-objectification and monitoring of their appearance, as well as more dissatisfaction and shame related to their bodies,” the study found.

The study was conducted by Jessica Strubel and Trent Petrie at the University of North Texas. “We found that being actively involved with Tinder, regardless of the user’s gender, was associated with body dissatisfaction,” Strubel said of her research.

Men’s self-esteem took a harder hit from the dating app. “Men have been found to ‘right swipe’ 46 percent of their matches compared to women, who do so only 14 percent of the time.” By swiping right (“yes, I’m interested”) more often, men set themselves up for frequent rejection.

Although Tinder users tended to have lower self-esteem, the researchers pointed out that correlation doesn’t imply causation.

“It could be just as likely that people with lower self-esteem are drawn more to these types of apps,” they note. – The Washington Post