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Dating Apps and Their Effect on College-Aged Intimate Relationships

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Introduction
As technology becomes increasingly more relevant in society, the way that people interact with
each other is constantly shying away from face to face encounters. As a result, society has started to rely
more on technology to meet new people, affecting the way that dating occurs drastically. This is
especially evident in the college-aged demographic. According to Kleinman (2014), the online dating
website Tinder has over 50 million users and the average person spends 77 minutes per day on the
website. This study will explore the effect that technology has on college-aged students. We aim to
determine whether online dating leads to long term successful monogamous relationships or just a
multitude of sexual encounters amongst its users. This report includes the methods that will be used to
gather information, relevant literature that can be applied to online dating, and the possible limitations
that might affect the results.
Literature Review
In an academic journal called Social Semiotics, there is a research article called “Filtered
encounter: online dating and the problem of filtering through excessive information.” This article
discusses the benefits of online dating, and how the dating pool is opened up to a wider range of people.
However, this can lead to an overload of information and also an overwhelming number of possible
dating candidates. It also goes on to talk about the process in which people create and identity themselves
through their online dating profiles. This article goes into deeper detail of the ways that people can filter
out information about others, in order to save time and energy on partners that would not be a good match
for them. This is relevant to our research because it will help us gain a greater understanding of why
people prefer online dating to face to face dating, and some of the positives and negatives to creating a
dating profile.
In a qualitative health research journal “Online Dating and Mating: the Use of the Internet to
Meet Sexual Partners,” discusses the way that online dating affects the way that people meet not only
romantic partners, but sexual ones as well. This study conducted 26 interviews. It found that 45 percent of
women and 55 percent of men use the internet for sexual reasons. The article focuses on the specific way

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that people use the internet as a way to meet sexual partners, for example, through instant messaging as a
way to interact with another person one on one. This is more personal than only looking at a person’s
profile as a way to gain information about another person that you might be interested in. This journal can
be useful to our research as it gives a deeper look into the sexual side of online dating and gives us a basis
for comparison to the relationship aspect.
Age is a very important factor when discussing online dating. In the Journal of Computer-
Mediated Communication, they discuss that as people begin to get older, they are more likely to use the
internet as a way to meet potential partners (Stephure, Boon, MacKinnon, & Deveau, 2009). This articles
gives an analysis on how the age of a person will affect whether or not they will use online dating as a
means to meet new romantic partners. This will be useful to help narrow down the age range on our
research and to figure out the probability of college aged students using the internet and dating apps as a
way to meet romantic and/ or sexual partners.
“Gendering” the Self in Online Dating Discourse is a research journal that used discourse analysis
to explore the use of language in 20 online profiles. From random sampling of profiles, the author
compared the norms of gender presentation and communication with the ways language is used to
promote oneself. This research found that dating sites require users to develop a new literacy of self-
presentation. This research gives us insight to how profiles are constructed to attract potential mates, and
it also incorporates the differences between both genders and their profile language.
According to the Huffington Post’s article, “Why Tinder Has Us Addicted: The Dating App
Gives You Mind-Reading Powers,” Tinder is simply a “judging app.” It matches local users up based
solely on their personal appearance (Huffington Post, 2014). “Tinderers” flick through pictures choosing
either to dismiss or welcome another user into liking their photo to make them a match be able to send
pictures to one another (Huffington Post, 2014).
While the app lets you know that guy sitting next to you on the bus is checking you out also, it
does not boost the idea that having premarital sex is the “cool” thing to do. The addition of online dating
sites like Tinder is not making the millennials the generation of having sex with ‘no strings attached’.

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According to a University of Portland study, undergraduates are not doing what their parents were doing
years back. Undergraduates are having less sex than those in the past. In the study consisted of a survey
given to “more than 1,800 18 to 25-year-olds, who graduated from high school and completed at least one
year of college” (American Sociological Association, 2013). The study found out that “sexual behavior
among college students has remained fairly consistent over the past 25 years” (American Sociological
Association, 2013).
From the International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, Millsom Henry-Waring
and Jo Barraket studied the effects of online dating and its role on Australian Society. In their article
“Dating & Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of Online Dating Sites in Australia” Henry-Waring and
Barraket examined 60 online dating websites and did 23 in-depth interviews with online dating users.
The study found that many people are switching to online dating because it can be easier to put
themselves out there and take less emotional risk. Henry-Waring and Barraket found that there is
“hypercommunication” (2008) occurring online in how participants are communicating and the speed and
intensity in which they do so. They contend that although the way in which people are initiating
relationships has become more technology based, in the end they are all searching for the same thing and
continue to have traditional relationships. The findings from this article are very relevant to our research
topic because it explains that there is an instant gratification that is occurring among users. This in turn is
evolving the way intimate relationships are forming.
As we research a variety of literature to support our topic, we are attempting to find an answer to
the following question:
How is the convenient accessibility and availability of technology in the form of online dating
affecting the intimate relationships of college-aged students?
Research Methods
As a way to obtain information we will be conducting a survey that will be asking a series of
questions that will help us gain insight to the opinions and experiences of college aged students, between
the ages of 18 and 25, about dating apps and their intimate relationships. In this study the independent

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variable is the usage of dating apps, and the dependent variables are the intimate relationships. This will
include a random sampling of 50 participants that college-aged students. This will allow us to understand
and gain knowledge about the success rates that these students have encountered on their quests for
varying intimate relationships beginning online. It will give us a general statistical quantity about what
these students have experienced and learn from this form of dating and whether it was considered to be
more or less successful than a more traditional type of dating.
In order to choose our research participants, we will be using cluster sampling because it was
manageable to choose participants that go to Cal Poly Pomona or schools close by. In order to do this, we
will create a list that includes all of our participants. We will take the total number of participants that we
get from the 75 surveys distributed and choose 50 usable surveys.
Results
After conducting a total of 75 surveys, we used cluster sampling as the process to collect our
participants. We used this because the usage of dating apps among college-aged students is spread in
many countries and it would be impossible to cover that large of a geographical area for the purposes of
our study. When using cluster sampling, there is a two-step process involved. The first step requires the
researcher to identify the population by clusters. In order to do this we separated the surveys into two
subgroups of interest: the people who use/ have used dating apps and people who have never used dating
apps. Out of the 75 total surveys, there were initially 32 people who use/have used dating apps and 43
people who have never used them. We then labeled each of the surveys with a number so that we could
use a number generator in the second part of the sampling process as a way to randomly select who would
become a participant. In the second step of the cluster sampling process, the researcher needs to use
simple random sampling within each cluster to select the sample for that subgroup. When using the
simple random sampling, we needed to ensure that every person would have an equal chance of being
selected to become a participant. In order to do this, we used the website, https://www.random.org, as a
way to generate a random numbers table. Once we compiled a list of 25 random numbers for each of the
cluster groups, we would pull out the corresponding number to be used as a participant.

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Dating App User Results
Out of the participants who have
used dating applications, 60% of
them are still currently using dating
applications and 40% have used
them in the past, but no longer
currently use them. Out of these 25
participants, the most common
response
for using them was for finding a
friends with benefits type of relationship.
The participants that have/ had used dating apps
60% reported that they had been involved in a
committed relationship within the past year and
40% have not. Among the people who had been
involved in a relationship, only 20% of them
had entered into this relationship due to the
usage of the dating app.
When it came to the amount of sexual partners
that the participants had within the past year, a
majority of them had between 1 and 3
partners. Out of these sexual partners 36 % of
the participants had not met any of them off of

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dating websites. However, 40% of the Dating
app users reported that they felt that the usage
of dating apps had increased the amount of
their sexual encounters.
When asked how often people check their
dating apps on a typical day, most people
responded either occasionally or never.
- 68% of users do not prefer to meet
people over dating apps, while 32% prefer it.
56% of the dating app users were female and
44% were male. (more)
Non- User Results
When is comes to non-users of dating apps, we
also surveyed 25 participants. 60% of users
have been in a committed relationships within
the last year and 40% have not. Within the last
year, for non-users of dating apps, most
participants had either 0 or 1-3 sexual
encounters.

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36% of non-users are male, and 64% are female.
Ages of Non-users
Age Range % of Participants
<17 0%
17-19 4%
20-22 76%
22-24 12%
>24 8%
Discussion and Conclusion
Interpretation of the Results
From our results, we came to find that most dating app users were either using it to find a ‘friends
with benefits’ type of relationship or were unsure of why they were using the dating apps. Our research
question aimed to discover how dating apps were affecting college aged students and their intimate
relationships. This particular data result proves that students were mainly using these dating apps as a way
to have casual sexual interactions and not as a way to find long lasting relationships. The study showed

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that there was no difference between the amount of people who were in relationships within the past year,
when comparing users and non users. However, despite the similarities between the users and non-users
regarding committed relationships, the differences become apparent when analyzing the data of recent
sexual partners. When comparing the number of sexual partners that participants had within the last year,
people who used dating apps tended to have a higher amount of sexual partners than those who did not
use apps. This shows that dating apps have impacted intimate relationships among college aged students
by producing more opportunities for sexual encounters. The accessibility of dating apps has proven to
yield more face to face encounters due to an easier alternative to meet new people. More than half of the
users reported that it was very easy to meet other people through dating apps.
Limitations
The limitations in our study consist of sampling size, participants cooperation, sampling, and
quantitative method limitations. First, we only sampled a small amount of students to represent a large
population. Most of our participants are students from Cal Poly Pomona, and other colleges in the area.
There might be a significant difference when compared with other college students across the nation.
Second, the use of cluster sampling causes an increase in sampling error because it generalizes the finding
when only taken from a small sample. Thirdly, many people are private about their online dating history,
and are often embarrassed by it, so students might not have filled out the survey truthfully. The survey
could have reminded some participants of some of their past risky behavior, therefore they may be
hesitant in answering honestly. Finally, by using a quantitative method to conduct our research a
difficulty developed in capturing the complexity or depth of relationships over time.
Recommendations
For a future study, when conducting research on personal and intimate communication topics it
would be best to use qualitative research methods. Using qualitative research methods would help provide
more in depth data and observations to help gain a greater understanding. Relationships are sometimes
complicated analyze in quantitative methods. Having one on one interaction with the participants will
help capture their subjective views about their own experiences. With this, we could ask the participants

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the reasoning behind their usage for dating apps and what led them to make that decision. This would
help us understand why dating apps are so prevalent in college-aged students.
Another area of improvement would involve having a more diversified sample of participants. If
we were to take samples from a variety of geographical locations, it would help to learn about the
differences among college-aged students across the nation. Along with diversified geographical location,
there should be an equal number of males and females chosen to participate. For a successful
implementation of our pilot study we would recommend a research instrument of focus groups and one-
on-one interviews. For continuing research on this communication phenomenon it is recommended that
researchers spend more time developing exactly the interaction that is being studied. There is a lack of
research in the topic of dating apps and their connection to intimate relationships, which is why focus
groups would be useful. They would explore in greater depth this emerging area of communication
research.
References
1. Best, K., & Delmege, S. (2012). The filtered encounter: Online dating and the problem of filtering
through excessive information. Social Semiotics, 22(3), 237-258. Retrieved January 26, 2015,
from EBSCO.
2. Couch, D., & Liamputtong, P. (2008). Online Dating And Mating: The Use Of The Internet To
Meet Sexual Partners. Qualitative Health Research, 18(2), 268-279. Retrieved January 26, 2015,
from http://qhr.sagepub.com.proxy.library.csupomona.edu/content/18/2/268.full.pdf html
3. Stephure, R., Boon, S., MacKinnon, S., & Deveau, V. (2009). Internet Initiated Relationships:
Associations Between Age And Involvement In Online Dating. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication, 14(3), 658-681. Retrieved January 26, 2015, from Wiley Online Library.
4. Fullick, M (2013). “Gendering” the Self in Online Discourse. Canadian Journal Of
Communication, 38(4) 545-562

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5. Bosker, B. (2013, April 9). Why Tinder Has Us Addicted: The Dating App Gives You Mind-
Reading Powers. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/tinder-dating-app_n_3044472.html
6. Barraket, J., Henry-Waring, M. (2008, May). Dating & Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of
Online Dating Sites in Australia. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society,
6(1) 14-33.
7. American Sociological Association. (August, 2013). Study challenges popular perception of new
‘hookup culture’ on college campuses. American Sociological Association. Retrieved from
http://www.asanet.org/press/preception_of_hookup_culture_changing_on_college_campus.cfm

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