Dating App Communication: Personal Characteristics, Motives and Behavioural Intent.

This article examines the interpersonal communication processes involved in dating app use, focusing on how personality traits and motives relate to behavioral intentions on platforms like Tinder. Guided by the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) and the Goals-Planning-Action (GPA) model of interpersonal influence, two studies investigated how motives such as love, casual sex, self-worth validation, and communication apprehension predict intentions to seek romantic relationships or casual sex. Study 1 found that love and self-worth validation motives positively predict intentions for romantic relationships, while casual sex motives predict intentions for casual sex; dating app communication apprehension was negatively associated with several motives. Study 2 expanded the scope by identifying four factors for reasons to seek sex online (ease of use, thrill-seeking, filtering ability, sexual explicitness) and explored the influence of the Dark Triad personality traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—finding these traits positively associated with various dating app motives and reasons for seeking sex online. The research highlights the complexity of how personality influences motives and intentions in dating app communication, noting limitations such as reliance on self-reported data, cross-sectional design, and sample homogeneity, and calls for further investigation into behavioral enactment and diverse populations.