Is Dating App Use Driving the Number of New Sexual Partners Among Young Adults Who Date? If Not, What Is?

Abstract

Dating apps have the potential to facilitate access to a large pool of potential partners. However, both popular press and sexual health experts suggest that this increased partner accessibility is responsible for recent rises in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and for encouraging short-term relationships over long-term commitments (e.g., Bloodworth, 2021 ; Sales, 2015 ). While recent studies support the idea that dating app use is associated with a greater number of sexual partners, the process underlying this association is still unclear. The main goal of this study was to test whether the association is better explained as a methodological artifact, a self-selection bias, or an accentuation eff ect. Young Canadian adults (N = 405) completed an online survey. Results suggest that most of the association comes from a methodological artefact and that the rest can be explained by the self-selection hypothesis. Overall, the relational goal motivations of young adults and their level of sexual impulsivity seem to play a more important role in their dating outcomes than the specifi c methods that they use to meet new people.