Tinder is reinforcing ancient mating habits, study finds

Men favour beauty whilst women look for brains

Tinder is making us behave like cave people. No, really.

A team of psychologists at the University of Aberdeen have found that the popular dating app is bringing out basic mating urges in men and women.

However, their research highlighted key disparities in how people use the app, with men making their selections based on appearances whilst women favoured intelligence, career prospects and stability.

These discrepancies mimic ancient survival tactics, explains Dr Mirjam Brady-Van den Bos, Psychology lecturer at the University of Aberdeen.

“Our research demonstrates that we haven’t really changed in all those millennia of evolution,” she said.

“Tinder is seen as a sophisticated but artificial way of meeting prospective partners.

“What we’ve shown though is that the way people search for potential dates is in line with what evolutionary theories on human mating choices would predict.”

She explained that the findings might come down to the “McDonaldisation” of dating that Tinder perpetuates, given that we expect speedy and satisfying results like we would at a fast food restaurant.

Sex, French fries… same same, but different.

The study also found that female Tinder users were less trusting and were more conscious of “catfish” users who might be hiding behind fake profiles. The research was compiled through a series of surveys, conducted on male and female Tinder users who the psychologists recruited from Facebook.

All of them were between the ages of 20 to 26 and resided in north-east Scotland, reports The Scotsman.

Brady-Van den Bos will present the findings at the Economic and Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Science, which is happening across the UK throughout November.