Use of ‘gay dating apps’ and its relationship with individual well-being and sense of community in men who have sex with men.

Zervoulis, Karyofyllis; Smith, David S.; Reed, Rhiannon; Dinos, Sokratis

Abstract

There is growing literature and empirical work that is investigating if and how mobile phone and tablet dating apps are influencing the lives of their users. An online questionnaire-based study was developed to investigate how men who have sex with men (MSM) use ‘gay dating apps’ (GDAs), and how such use may relate to different aspects of their lives on an individual and on a collective level. The study included data from 191 MSM living in the UK with varying levels of GDAs use and reasons for using them. Beyond some descriptive information on use of GDAs, the findings showed that, overall, high users of GDAs report a lower sense of community, higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of satisfaction with life. Still, there is some evidence that those MSM who use GDAs mainly for sexual encounters report higher levels of self-esteem and of satisfaction with life compared to those who use GDAs mainly for other reasons. It appears that such GDAs cater effectively for those looking for sexual partners, but may have negative implications for those who look for other types of relationships and interactions.

Citation

ZERVOULIS, K., SMITH, D.S., REED, R. and DINOS, S. 2020. Use of 'gay dating apps' and its relationship with individual well-being and sense of community in men who have sex with men. Psychology and sexuality [online], 11(1-2): special issue containing papers from 2018 Preaching to the choir (PREACH 2018): an international Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) psychology pre-conference to the 29th International congress of applied psychology (ICAT 2018), 24-25 June 2018, Montréal, Canada, pages 88-102. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2019.1684354

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 2018 International LGBTQ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) psychology pre-conference, co-located with ICAP (International congress of applied psychology) 2018: preaching to the choir: moving LGBTQ psychology forward together
• Acceptance Date: Oct 18, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 12, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 2, 2020
• Journal: Psychology and sexuality
• Print ISSN: 1941-9899
• Electronic ISSN: 1941-9902
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 88-102
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2019.1684354
• Keywords: Men who have sex with men; Gay dating apps; Community; Well-being; Sex
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/753744
• Additional Information: The original paper was entitled 'Use of 'gay dating apps' (GDAs) by men who have sex with men: different patterns and evaluation of such use in relation to individual well-being and collective identity processes.' in the original presentation at conference.