This is a recent 2020 literature review of research on dating apps. I have pointed out in the past there is a discrepancy between messages/likes on apps and actual mate selection. On PPD a lot of focus has been placed on behaviors on the apps, like messages or swipes. This has skewed the perception of success on dating apps to make it seem lower than it is.

The latest group of studies focuses on offline behavior with contacts made through dating apps. Differences have been observed in the prevalence of encounters with other app users, possibly related to participants’ sociodemographic characteristics. Whereas Strugo and Muise [2], and Macapagal et al.[49]found that between 60 and 70% of their participants had had an encounter with another person known through these applications, in other studies this is less common, with prevalence being less than 50% [3,4,62]. In fact, Griffin et al. [39] stated that in-person encounters were relatively rare among users of dating apps. There are also differences in the types of relationships that arose after offline encounters with other users. Strugo and Muise [2] concluded that 33% of participants had found a romantic partner and that 52% had had casual sex with at least one partner met through an app. Timmermans and Courtois [4] found that one-third of the offline encounters ended in casual sex and one-fourth in a committed relationship. Sumter and Vandenbosch [3], for their part, concluded that 18.6% of the participants had had sex with another person they had met on Tinder. And finally, the participants in the study of Timmermans and De Caluwé [71] indicated that: (1) they had met face-to-face with an average of 4.25 people whom they had met on Tinder; (2) they had had one romantic relationship with people met on Tinder; (3) they had had casual sex with an average of 1.57 people met on Tinder; and (4) they had become friends with an average of 2.19 people met on Tinder.

A second finding in the review was that most app users do not seek hook ups or casual sex. Most people use dating apps to find a romantic partner, for entertainment, or other reasons.

There is a stereotype that dating apps are used only, or above all, to look for casual sex [44]. In fact, these applications have been accused of generating a hookup culture, associated with superficiality and sexual frivolity [2]. However, this is not the case. In the last five years, a large body of literature has been generated on the reasons why people use dating apps, especially Tinder, and the conclusion is unanimous: apps serve multiple purposes, among which casual sex is only one [1,4,44]. It has been found that up to 70% of the app users participating in a study [18] indicated that their goal when using it was not sex-seeking.

Additionally, women use Tinder less for sex and relationships than men do:

The existing literature indicates that reasons for the use of dating apps may vary depending on different sociodemographic and personality variables [1]. As for sex, Ranzini and Lutz [59] found that women used Tinder more for friendship and self-validation, whereas men used it more to seek sex and relationships. Sumter et al. [68] found something similar: men scored higher than women in casual sex motivation and also in the motives of ease of communication and thrill of excitement.

Education level predicts dating app use (more educated people are more likely to use apps). Women on apps also prefer more educated men, while men prefer less educated women. This may explain some portion of difficulty for low educated men on apps.

Another striking result about the educational level is that of the study of Neyt et al. [9] about their users’ characteristics and those that are sought in potential partners through the apps. These authors found a heterogeneous effect of educational level by gender: whereas women preferred a potential male partner with a high educational level, this hypothesis was not refuted in men, who preferred female partners with lower educational levels.

Some personality correlates of dating app use: dating app users are more likely to have high or less restrictive sociosexuality. Openness to experience in the Big Five model predicts app use. The review found inconclusive mixed results on Dark Tried traits and app use.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6500/pdf