Dating App Users Swipe Based on Attractiveness and Race Says New Study

People are flocking to dating apps, but as they swipe through profiles, many are basing their choice to swipe right instead of left on superficial factors like attractiveness and race. 

According to a new study, dating app users also make their decisions in less than a second, so their choices tend to be superficial, based primarily on photos. The researchers who shared the preliminary results of their study were Dr. William Chopik, an associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Psychology, and Dr. David Johnson from the University of Maryland.

The researchers compared two different demographics and the results to see how dating app users of different backgrounds interact with available profiles, focusing on college students and working-class adults, on average in their mid-thirties. They found that men tended to swipe right more often than women, but most people overall did not consider any profile information, including whether someone was interested in a hookup or relationship.

Dr. Chopik spoke with Sci Tech Daily, stating: “It’s extremely eye-opening that people are willing to make decisions about whether or not they would like to get to another human being, in less than a second and based almost solely on the other person’s looks.”

The study also showed that people tended to swipe right on matches who were the same race, and profiles for dating app members of color were rejected more than white users. “The disparities were rather shocking,” said Dr. Chopik. 

He went on to say: “Also surprising was just how little everything beyond attractiveness and race mattered for swiping behavior — your personality didn’t seem to matter, how open you were to hook-ups didn’t matter, or even your style for how you approach relationships or if you were looking short- or long-term didn’t matter.”

Still, many people are still finding love through online dating despite the superficial approach. Pew Research stated that one in ten users find relationships through a dating app, and recently, another study pointed to seniors having tremendous success on dating apps, with 66 percent finding a relationship.

Dr. Chopik noted that people also tend to swipe right on those matches who liked them first, pointing to the fact that people are more open to dating someone they consider less attractive or outside of their race if the other person expresses interest first. Also of note: people who consider themselves attractive were more likely to swipe left then those who don’t think of themselves as highly.

“We like people who like us,” Dr. Chopik said.