The psychological impact of dating apps

Reward processing

Humans like looking at people we find attractive. When someone opens a dating app, they're presented with a variety of images of potential love interests.

Nucleus accumbens

This area of the brain, known as the nucleus accumbens, acts as the neural interface between motivation and action. It plays a key role in food, sex, and stress-related and drug-taking behaviors.

Unpredictable rewards

Consider this effect when using an app like Tinder: similar to a casino slot machine, you never know when you might hit the jackpot.

Swiping right

Even when they don't have the app open, others can swipe on them, so if the app is opened after a prolonged period of time, there are new matches potentially waiting.

Response to choice

When responding to choices, the amygdala and ventral striatum are activated. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex holds subjective value, while the DLPFC weights each value against each other.

Goal alignment

Depending on our goals, our DLPFC weights higher value to certain choices that we can make. In other words, self-control may not be a simple case of impulse vs. deliberation.

Spoilt for choice

Another big issue on dating apps is the sheer volume of choices available. Some psychologists claim having too much choice makes it less likely a decision is made at all.

Of those people who had made a purchase, people who had been given fewer options reported greater levels of satisfaction with their choice afterwards.

Changes in the brain response

The reward and learning pathway in the brain has been linked to the chemical dopamine in the brain. Dopamine releases a pleasant sensation in response to a reward.

Cue and reward

In other words, the cue that predicts the reward gets more dopamine firing. Knowing what's going to happen releases more happy chemicals than the actual reward itself.

Dopamine surge

But, over time, it becomes more likely the person will experience a surge of dopamine just from receiving the notification. The brain has adapted to associate it with learning about a match.

Addictive?

Dopamine is involved in a number of addictive processes, but there is still much we don't know about the outcome of what takes place on dating apps and their effects on users.

Lawsuit

Match Group denies the allegation, saying they strive to "get people on dates every day and off our apps," according to a company spokesperson.

Making lives easier

Dating app creators, likewise, claim they are making people's lives easier without changing them or hacking our neurobiology.