Being Attractive on a Dating App: Generational and Gender Differences in Tinder Bios and Profile Pictures
Abstract
On dating apps, the image that users project of themselves, especially in terms of physical attributes, is important. This study explored how individuals of different generations and genders present their desirability through photos and self-descriptions—‘bios’—on their Tinder profiles. Through a virtual ethnographic study, 400 profiles of users aged 18–70 years were analysed and grouped into generation- and gender-based categories. The photographs were thematically analysed using observation matrices and descriptions. The results showed that, although all groups try to present themselves positively, generation- and gender-based differences exist in how individuals present their physicality through photographs (postures, angles, type of photo, place, facial expressions, body stereotypes, sexualisation) and bios. With respect to generations, these differences are attributable to the values and preferences of each group. Regarding gender differences, the influence of sociocultural stereotypes and ideals of femininity and masculinity is observed.
References
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30. Timmermans E., & Courtois, C. (2018). From swiping to casual sex and/or committed relationships: Exploring the experiences of Tinder users. The Information Society, 34(2), 59-70. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/01972243.2017.1414093
31. Tinder. (n.d.). General Information. https://bit.ly/3wI4PXT
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33. Ward L., Jerald M., Grower P., Daniels E., & Rowley S. (2023). Primping, performing, and policing: Social media use and self-sexualization among U.S. White, Black, and Asian-American adolescent girls. Body Image, 46, 324-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.06.015
34. Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2013). Generations at work: Managing the Clash of Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers in the Workplace (2nd ed.). American Management Association.
2. Arreola, K. (2021). Diferencias individuales en usuarios solteros de Tinder: motivos y manejo de impresiones. Unpublished Master's Thesis, FLACSO, Ecuador. http://hdl.handle.net/10469/18630
3. Bailey K., Cline L., & Gammage K. (2016). Exploring the complexities of body image experiences in middle age and older adult women within an exercise context: The simultaneous existence of negative and positive body images. Body Image, 17, 88-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.007
4. Berkowitz, D., Tinkler, J., Peck, A., & Coto, L. (2021). Tinder: A Game with Gendered Rules and Consequences. Social Currents, 8(5), 491-509. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965211019486
5. Ciocca, G., Robilotta, A., Fontanesi, L., Sansone, A., D'Antuono, L., Limoncin, E., Nimbi, F. M., Simonelli, C., Di Lorenzo, G., Syracusano, A., & Jannini, E. A. (2020). Sexological Aspects Related to Tinder Use: A Comprehensive Review of the literature. Sexual Medicine Reviews, 8(3), 367-378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr.2019.12.004
6. Consultoría Estratégica de Investigación de Mercados [Strategic Market Research Consulting] (IMEC). 2019. ¿Qué es la etnografía digital y qué herramientas se utilizan? https://www.cimec.es/que-es-etnografia-digital-herramientas-se-utilizan/
7. Cruz, L. (2023). La feminidad hegemónica y autorepresentación digital en Tinder. Prâksis Journal, 1, 251-270. https://doi.org/10.25112/rpr.v1.3065
8. Degen, J.L, A., & Kleeberg-Niepage, A. (2020). The More We Tinder: Subjects, Selves and Society. Human Arenas, 5(1), 179-195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-020-00132-8
9. Degen, J.L., & Kleeberg-Niepage, A. (2023). Profiling the Self in Mobile Online Dating Apps: a Serial Picture Analysis. Human Arenas, 6(1), 147-171.https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-021-00195-1
10. De Souza, L. K. (2019). Pesquisa com análise qualitativa de dados: conhecendo a Análise Temática. Brazilian Archives of Psychology, 71(2), 51-67. http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/arbp/v71n2/05.pdf
11. Díaz-Sarmiento, C., López-Lambraño, M., & Roncallo-Lafont, L. (2017). Entendiendo las generaciones: una revisión del concepto, clasificación y características distintivas de los baby boomers, X y millennials. Revista Clío América, 11, 188-204. https://ideas.repec.org/a/col/000506/016524.html
12. Hernández-Sampieri, R., & Mendoza, C. (2018). Metodología de la investigación: Las rutas cuantitativa, cualitativa y mixta. McGraw-Hill Interamerican.
13. International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS). (2020). International Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures performed in 2020. https://www.isaps.org/media/hprkl132/isaps-global-survey_2020.pdf
14. Linne, J. (2020). “No sos vos, es Tinder”. Gamificación, consumo, gestión cotidiana y performance en aplicaciones de “levante”. Convergencia-Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 27, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.29101/crcs.v27i0.13365
15. Linne, J., & Fernández, P. (2019). En búsqueda del match perfecto. Perfiles, experiencias y expectativas socioafectivas de jóvenes en torno a Tinder. Last Decade, 27(51), 96–122. https://ultimadecada.uchile.cl/index.php/UD/article/view/54305
16. Lumbreras, M. (2018). Presentación y representación de las mujeres en Tinder. In M.J. Díaz Santiago and F.J. García-Castilla, Una mirada desde la Sociología Actual: análisis y propuestas del contexto social (pp. 135-152). Asociación Madrileña de Sociología (AMS). https://bit.ly/3VJUQey
17. Marx, J., & Mirbabaie, M. (2022). The Investigator's Dilemma - A Review of Social Media Analytics Research Ethics in Information Systems. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 26, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v26i0.3287
18. Merlyn M-F. (2020). Dime lo que escuchas y te diré quién eres. Representaciones de la mujer en las 100 canciones de reggaetón más populares en 2018. Feminismo/S, 35, 291-320. https://doi.org/10.14198/fem.2020.35.11
19. Mesa-Medina, O. & Marfil-Carmona, R. (2018). Diferencias de género en la relación socioafectiva virtual e implicaciones educomunicativas en la red Tinder. In M.R. Cruz Díaz, F.J. Caro-González and A. Ramírez García, Uso del teléfono móvil, juventud y familia (pp. 65-90). Egregius. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/54357
20. Papalia, D., & Martorell, G. (2021). Desarrollo humano (14th ed.). McGraw Hill Education
21. Pearson, C. (2023, June 22). How Online Dating Apps Can Lead to Burnout. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/well/mind/burnout-online-dating-apps.html
22. Piran, N. (2016). Embodied possibilities and disruptions: The emergence of the Experience of Embodiment construct from qualitative studies with girls and women. Body Image, 18, 43-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.007
23. Piran N., Teall, T., & Counsell, A. (2023). Expanding the social lens: A quantitative study of the developmental theory of embodiment. Body Image, 44, 246-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.11.009
24. Portingale, J., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Liu, S., Eddy, S., Liu, X., Giles, S., & Krug, I. (2022). Love me Tinder: The effects of women's lifetime dating app use on daily body dissatisfaction, disordered eating urges, and negative mood. Body Image, 40, 310-321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.01.005
25. Ranzini, G., & Lutz, C. (2017). Love at first swipe? Explaining Tinder self-presentation and motives. Mobile Media & Communication, 5(1), 80-101. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157916664559
26. Rodgers, R., Campagna, J. & Attawala, R. (2019). Stereotypes of physical attractiveness and social influences: The heritage and vision of Dr. Thomas Cash. Body Image, 31, 273-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.01.010
27. Strubel, J. & Petrie, T. (2017). Love me Tinder: Body image and psychosocial functioning among men and women. Body Image, 21, 34-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.02.006
28. The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK). (2023). Generational Breakdown: Info about all of the generations. https://genhq.com/the-generations-hub/generational-faqs/
29. Timmermans E., & De Caluwé E. (2017), To Tinder or not to Tinder, that's the question: An individual differences perspective to Tinder use and motives. Personality And Individual Differences, 110, 74-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.01.026
30. Timmermans E., & Courtois, C. (2018). From swiping to casual sex and/or committed relationships: Exploring the experiences of Tinder users. The Information Society, 34(2), 59-70. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/01972243.2017.1414093
31. Tinder. (n.d.). General Information. https://bit.ly/3wI4PXT
32. Vendemia M., & Fox J. (2024). How social media images of sexualized young women elicit appearance commentary from their peers and reinforce objectification. Body Image, 49, 101683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101683
33. Ward L., Jerald M., Grower P., Daniels E., & Rowley S. (2023). Primping, performing, and policing: Social media use and self-sexualization among U.S. White, Black, and Asian-American adolescent girls. Body Image, 46, 324-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.06.015
34. Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2013). Generations at work: Managing the Clash of Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers in the Workplace (2nd ed.). American Management Association.
Authors
Marie-France Merlyn
Elena Díaz-Mosquera
[1]
“Being Attractive on a Dating App: Generational and Gender Differences in Tinder Bios and Profile Pictures”, Soc. sci. humanities j., vol. 8, no. 08, pp. 4531–4546, Aug. 2024, doi: 10.18535/sshj.v8i08.1235.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.