The Tinder (TM) stamp: Perceived trustworthiness of online daters and its persistence in neutral contexts

Five studies explored how users of online dating platforms, such as Tinder (TM) and Parship, are perceived by others. Participants were presented with ostensibly real profiles of Tinder (TM), Parship, and Facebook users and indicated how trustworthy they perceived each to be. Our hypothesis was that Tinder (TM) users would be perceived as less trustworthy than both Parship and Facebook users because Tinder (TM) is generally portrayed according to a hook-up app narrative. Additionally, we tested whether the lower trustworthiness attributed to Tinder (TM) users persists when judgments are made in a context where the association between the individuals and the online platforms in which they were presented is removed. Our hypothesis was generally supported in a preliminary study and Studies 1 to 3. Study 4 tested the limits of the effect and showed that the adverse Tinder-effect on perceived trustworthiness was diluted when several minutes of strong cognitive distraction occurred between the first encounter with the users of each app and the evaluation of their trustworthiness