Much has changed since the launch of the very first dating app, Match. Dating then still largely depended on first meeting someone in person and asking for their number. Today, online dating is the main way to meet people, thanks to a plethora of apps offering more choices and greater convenience than ever before.
The result has been that most matches nowadays begin virtually—with a right swipe or comment on a profile, rather than an in-person introduction. This drastic evolution in dating norms has had its benefits and drawbacks.
Both in terms of potential partners and types of relationships, both men and women have the most options they have had at any time in human history. At the same time, online dating can take a toll and lead to burnout, and these issues are uniquely tied to the use of dating apps.
Nearly 80 percent of long-term dating app users said they had experienced emotional burnout or fatigue, according to a June article in The New York Times. It was assessing the state of online dating 10 years after the advent of Tinder.
We wanted to explore this mental health link in greater depth—and specifically, the impact of online dating on mental health. Did dating app use correspond with higher stress and anxiety levels, and if so, in what ways? And, how challenging did survey respondents perceive these issues to be?
