More specifically, do mobile dating apps breed bad or antisocial behaviour? One of the main themes is how common it is for people to be using dating apps while in relationships. In a study of American undergraduate students, around two-thirds revealed that they had seen someone on Tinder who they knew to be in a relationship. This is when someone on a dating app maintains contact with another person in the hope of some day pursuing something romantic or sexual.
Surprisingly, the authors of a study involving undergraduate college students found that the number of backburners reported did not differ significantly between those who were single, casually dating or in a committed relationship. Sign up to The Hook-Up and we'll slide into your inbox every week with all the latest sex and dating stories from Metro. We can't wait for you to join us!
Online communication, of course, makes keeping in contact much easier. Researchers have suggested that relationship maintenance in a backburner relationship involves positivity being compassionate to the other person and ensuring that interactions with them are fun and enjoyable , openness disclosing personal information to them, maybe even sharing secrets and assurances demonstrating a wish for the relationship to be sustained over time. Online dating has also made ghosting much easier.
Participants in this study reported both instances of sudden ghosting abruptly ceasing contact and gradual ghosting slowing down contact before disappearing altogether. Gradual ghosting increased the degree of uncertainty for the person being ghosted. Ghosting probably occurs so frequently because of the ease of ending a relationship in this way, particularly if the couple is yet to meet in person.
As such, more genuine users of these apps may be easy targets for trolls, who merely wish to create conflict and cause distress to other online users for their own amusement. A study found that dating app trolls scored highly on measures of sadistic behaviour, showing a disregard for the pain or suffering inflicted on other people; and highly on dysfunctional impulsivity, characterised by not following up on promises.
