Tinder helping youngsters cheat on their partners: Study
Dating app Tinder, which is supposed to help people form new relationships, is increasingly helping youngsters cheat on their partners, a study claims. Scientists from the Texas Tech University, US showed that a significant number of college students are using Tinder to meet what they call "extradyadic partners" that is, a partner outside of and in addition to a partner in a committed relationship. Here's more.
What are the real experiences of people?
"A couple of years ago, one of my students shared the story that she had come across a friend's boyfriend on Tinder, and she was not sure whether she should tell her friend," said Dana Weiser, an assistant professor at Texas Tech. "So, although Tinder may make it easy to meet potential partners, the potential for exposure may be high," Weiser said.
Numbers show students are using Tinder to find another partner
Now, among the 550 undergraduate students who participated in the study, 12.5% had spent time with someone they met on Tinder, 17.1% had messaged someone, 8.9% had been physically intimate and 7.2% reported having sexual relations with someone they met on Tinder while in an exclusive relationship. Researchers emphasised that it is unclear if Tinder is actually increasing rates-of-infidelity or simply giving people a different way to meet extradyadic-partners.
What else did the study find?
Researchers found two personality traits that could predict a person's likelihood to cheat on a partner: 'willingness' and 'intention' to engage in infidelity. "We expected that these same personality traits that predict in-person infidelity would also be associated with engaging in infidelity via Tinder," Weiser said. "We found those traits were more important for predicting infidelity than gender," he further added.
