While dating apps were once seen as taboo, they’re now one of the main ways that singletons find love around the world.
But if you have a profile on a dating app, a new study may encourage you to reassess which pictures you include.
Researchers from the University of Colorado have revealed that men who pose topless on Tinder are seen as less competent and more promiscuous.
Researchers from the University of Colorado have revealed that men who pose topless on Tinder are seen as less competent and more promiscuous
Tinder is an online dating app that matches singletons based on their physical attraction to one another.
The app encourages users to upload photos without friends, but doesn’t give much advice on what to wear.
‘Upload photos to Tinder that feature who everyone came to see: you! Ditch your friends, because this isn’t about them, and remove the sunglasses, because they hide your face,’ the app advises on its website.
‘The best pics are in-focus, and some say a smile goes a long way here.’
In the study, the researchers set out to test how sexualised images of males on the app affect viewers’ perceptions of them.
A sample of 567 participants were shown mock Tinder profiles for a young, white, adult man called Noah.
The pictures varied along three dimensions – relationship motivation, muscularity, and sexualised appearance.
For example, Noah was described as interested in either casual sex or a committed relationship, either had a muscular body or a non-muscular physique, and either wore a white t-shirt or was topless.
The participants were asked to rate Noah’s profile across a range of factors, including his sexual behaviours, physical attraction, and personality.
The results revealed that all three dimensions (relationship motivation, muscularity and sexualised appearance) affected the participants’ ratings of Noah’s profile – although the results varied between male and female participants.
In the study, the researchers set out to test how sexualised images of males on the app affect viewers’ perceptions of them (stock image)
Women judged the shirtless man as higher in risky sexual behaviour, lower in social appeal and lower in competence.
Men also judged the shirtless man as higher in risky sexual behaviour and lower in social appeal, but not lower in competence.
When Noah’s profile indicated he was interested in casual sex, both men and women judged him as higher in risky sexual behaviour and lower in competence.
Women also judged this profile as having lower social appeal.
Finally, both men and women rated the muscular man as more attractive than the non-muscular man, while only men rated him as higher in risky sexual behaviour.
‘The present findings indicate that a man’s sexualized self-presentation on a dating profile, even on an app known as a site for hook-ups, elicits diminished perceptions of his competence and greater perceptions that he engages in risky sexual behavior,’ the researchers wrote.
Based on the findings, the researchers are encouraging men looking for serious relationships to think twice before posting topless photos to their profiles.
‘A sexualized self-presentation on a Tinder profile is perhaps not the best self-presentational choice for men wanting to make a positive impression on women,’ they concluded.