A new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking suggests that certain personality traits and mating strategies are associated with greater success on dating apps like Tinder. People who scored higher in traits such as narcissism, psychopathy, and unrestricted sexual desires were more likely to report finding both dates and sexual partners through the platform.
Although previous research has explored the psychological profiles of dating app users, there has been less focus on what predicts actual outcomes—such as how many people secure dates or engage in sex as a result of using the apps.
The researchers wanted to understand not only who uses dating apps, but who succeeds on them. They applied a framework known as life history theory, which suggests that individuals vary in how they allocate effort toward mating and parenting. People with “fast” life history strategies tend to focus on short-term mating and self-enhancement, while those with “slow” strategies prioritize long-term relationships and caregiving.
The study framed dating apps like Tinder as “digital leks,” drawing from a term in biology. In some animal species, males gather in leks—territories where they display themselves to attract mates but provide no parental investment. Females visit these areas solely to select mating partners. Tinder was considered analogous because it allows people to advertise themselves to a large pool of potential partners in a visually driven, low-effort environment.
“When I started my research in the area of dating apps and social media, I dived deeper into theoretical explanations of our behavior,” said study author Lennart Freyth, the founder and research director of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Institute and a professor at HSD Hochschule Döpfer University of Applied Sciences. “Considering personality a behavioral disposition, I was indeed wondering: why was nobody going for the most obvious elements of dating apps? It took a bit to prepare and to present it, but everyone was fine and liked the idea to explore who are the people who go on dates (via these apps) and who engages in sexual intercourse (via these dates/apps).”
The researchers hypothesized that traits associated with fast life strategies—such as narcissism, psychopathy, and high levels of sociosexual desire—would predict greater dating app success. They were also interested in whether these dynamics differed by sex, and how decision-making styles like “satisficing” (being easily satisfied) or seeking alternative options might factor in.
For their new study, the research team surveyed 495 German-speaking adults, including 288 men and 207 women, aged 16 to 70 years. Participants were recruited online and received a small monetary incentive for their participation. Each person completed a series of questionnaires measuring various traits and behaviors.
The researchers used validated scales to assess the three so-called “Dark Triad” traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—as well as components of sociosexuality, which include attitudes toward casual sex, sexual desire, and previous sexual behavior. They also measured decision-making styles related to dating, such as how easily participants felt satisfied with potential matches or how often they searched for alternatives.
Participants were asked whether they had ever gone on a date arranged through a dating app (referred to as a “Tinder-date”) and whether they had ever had sex with someone they met on such an app (“Tinder-sex”). The researchers then examined which personality and behavioral traits predicted each outcome, using statistical analyses that accounted for sex differences and interaction effects.
About 31 percent of participants reported having gone on a date via Tinder or a similar app, with no significant difference between men and women. However, among those who reported having sex with someone they met on a dating app, men were more likely than women to do so—66 percent of those who had Tinder-sex were men.
People who reported either dating or having sex through Tinder tended to be younger and displayed traits associated with fast life strategies. For example, they scored higher in narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and all three aspects of sociosexuality: more favorable attitudes toward casual sex, greater sexual desire, and more sexual experience. These traits were generally stronger predictors of sexual outcomes than of dating alone, suggesting that sexual style becomes more relevant as the encounter progresses.
Men who reported having sex via Tinder were especially likely to score higher in psychopathy and sexual desire. This pattern did not hold for men who had not had Tinder-sex or for women in either group. The authors suggest that psychopathy in this context may not only reflect exploitative tendencies but may also indicate a strategic ability to identify others who are open to uncommitted sex. This aligns with previous findings that psychopathic men may be more successful in short-term mating, particularly in environments with high mate availability.
Women who had sex with someone from a dating app were more likely to report being easily satisfied with their choices compared to women who did not. This trait, known as satisficing, did not differ significantly among men. One interpretation is that these women may have invested more effort in selecting potential partners during the messaging phase and were more willing to accept some mismatch or disappointment in person. Another possibility is that this reflects increased sexual agency or a strategy aimed at maximizing reproductive opportunities.
The study also found that decision-making traits such as alternative search (constantly looking for better options) did not significantly predict mating success. This may suggest that once a match leads to an actual date, being less selective or more focused on present opportunities plays a larger role than ongoing comparison.
While some differences between men and women appeared, the overall trend showed that fast life strategies, regardless of sex, tend to be linked with greater success in using dating apps to find both dates and sexual partners.
“There is a general pattern that emerges when investigating social media use and associated personality traits,” Freyth told PsyPost. “Individuals who have elevated levels of traits associated with a fast life history (like the Dark Triad/Tetrad traits, or sociosexuality) use visual social media platforms more intensely. They also report more dates and sex—here, for instance, men high in psychopathy and sociosexuality.”
“Yet, women who reported sex via dating apps lowered their standards (lower satisficing) compared to women not having ‘Tinder-sex.’ We were surprised by women lowering their standards once on a date. We consider this something like a sunk cost effect—after already texting, once on a date, the decision to engage further was already made.”
“Most importantly, while discussing these and similar findings over the years, I made the observation that dating apps are similar to biological leks in the animal kingdom,” Freyth continued. “Meaning, it is a short-term mating environment favoring opportunistic mating behavior.”
As with all research, there are some limitations to consider. First, the use of self-reported data on sexual behavior may be influenced by social desirability or gendered reporting biases—men may overreport and women may underreport their experiences. The study was also cross-sectional, meaning it cannot determine causality or track how these behaviors change over time. Longitudinal or experimental research would be needed to assess whether fast life strategies cause greater dating app success or simply emerge as a result of using the apps.
“Compared to most studies on dating apps, our sample was relatively old (the average age was around 40 years),” Freyth noted. “We consider it possible that the effects are underestimated here, as younger people are more opportunistic by nature and due to their current socialization (see, e.g., Haidt’s Anxious Generation). As we have some studies on the topic—one was even replicated—I do not consider a severe shortcoming here.”
The researchers recommend future research explore how these short-term strategies impact broader aspects of life, such as long-term relationship formation, parenting, and even moral decision-making. They also argue that dating apps should be more openly discussed in academic and public discourse and that researchers should not shy away from controversial or sexually charged topics due to stigma or potential backlash.
“Scientifically, I would like to see how the short-term-oriented behavior affects other regions of our daily lives, from partner choice, love, and also moral decisions—from the individual to a societal level,” Freyth explained. “In general, after having done several studies on dating apps (and social media) and associated personality traits, I would like to see it as a normalized part of the scientific and public debate. Our scientific peers are very interested in private but do not publicly show their interest. I think scholars should accept science as science, and we, as scientists, in general, should be more liberal in discussing topics.”
“This study was a hard fight over almost two years to publish,” Freyth added. “It took nine rounds of revisions until the editor-in-chief decided to publish it, after I kindly asked them to look into it. The text was forced to take up relatively unrelated topics because the reviewers disliked the results and approach. Then, we had a similar follow-up study, which was retracted as the results followed up on men and women cheating via dating apps. I filed a complaint after the fifth internal revision following publication. I think people should differentiate their personal stance on things from research and scientific findings. I personally, as a younger man, struggled to find a job simply because I touched these research topics. Indeed, I would like to share more about this, but to keep it short, I will end here.”
The study, “Dating App Users: Interpersonal Styles and Self-Reported Mating Success,” was authored by Lennart Freyth and Peter K. Jonason.
