Tinder has been one of the most popular dating apps in recent years, incorporating a “hot-or-not” design through quick swiping “yes” or “no” reactions to prospective partners. Known for a culture of hooking up and one-night stands, many researchers are interested in the effect Tinder has on its users and their sexual behaviors.
A group of Spanish researchers have looked into a non-sexual aspect of Tinder: self-perception. Self-perception is someone’s behavior and the way they present themselves, which is often influenced by social and cultural norms, as well as personal and social values. The assumption about online self-perception is that an individual will always present a controlled version of themselves that is curated to make a good impression.
The researchers dug through 1,000 Tinder profiles from users in the Barcelona, Spain area, analyzing each image included to identify the self-presentation choices of users. They then compared by age, gender, and sexual orientation.
Self-presentation clusters:
- Half portrait (24%): half of the body included in the image; user is looking at the camera.
- Casual poser (16%): the user is looking away in the image (candid, millennial “edgy” selfie, etc.).
- Close-up (14%): selfies with only the head visible, looking at the camera.
- Full portrait (13%): full body is in view; user is looking at the camera.
- Sunglasses (10%): the user is wearing sunglasses.
- Nature lover (8%): the user is in nature (fish, hiking, etc.).
- Nothing to hide (7%): users are almost naked, high degree of nudity, also includes swimsuits.
- Screensaver (5%): no person included in the image, mainly landscapes or screenshots.
- A bit of myself (3%): parts of the body in frame (no head visible), with a high degree of nudity.
It should be noted that only 10% of the sample included nudity in their Tinder profile. Nudity was calculated using Yahoo’s Not Safe for Work (NSFW) scale.
Popular clusters by gender
Researchers state that these patterns of self-perception may be in-line with cultural and social norms, as well as other research. Specifically, we see more conservative expressions of self online.
- Women tended to have higher amounts of nudity, especially in the first image, although this may be due to Tinder’s smart select option (the first image shown is dictated by which image is on the screen when other users swipe “yes”),
- Women searching for men tended to fall in the full portrait cluster,
- Women searching for women tended to include more casual and close-up images (avoiding full portrait images),
- Men included less nudity,
- Men searching for men tended to have more nothing to hide, and half portrait images (avoiding screensaver, bit of self, and close-up images),
- Men searching for women were more likely to include images from the screensaver and nature lover clusters (avoiding nothing to hide).
Popular clusters by sexual orientation
These behaviors may be more closely aligned with cultural expectations in Spain, as well as within the LGB community:
- Straight women and men fell more into the clusters of full portrait and screensaver, respectively.
- Bisexual individuals appeared to include more nudity in their images, but no other clear pattern of image preference.
- Gay men tended to include more half portrait and nothing to hide images, avoiding the screensaver cluster.
- Lesbian women had a high number of images in the sunglasses cluster, avoiding full portrait images.
Popular clusters by age
Younger age groups had the highest nudity index, which decreased as users were older. Younger age groups also tended to include more images in the clusters: nothing to hide and casual, avoiding sunglasses, close-ups, and screensavers. This falls in line with current observations about social media behaviors.
Researchers found that as age increased, less exposure was desired. So, older groups may be more likely to have majority of images be in the screensaver cluster. Researchers believe this connects to ideas about body image and nervousness showing aging bodies online or to strangers.
Key Takeaways
- Most Tinder users present themselves conservatively, similar to general social media norms.
- Self-presentation varies by gender and orientation, aligning with cultural expectations and community norms.
- Younger users are more comfortable showing skin, aligning with broader social-media trends.
The majority of users sampled (67%) made their profiles up of more conservative image types: half portrait, casual poser, close-up, and full portrait. Researchers believe this reveals most Tinder users prefer to casually show others what they look like, with no hint of wanting to engage in sexual activity right away (contrary to popular understandings of Tinder).
The generalizations made in this study were based on extensive analysis and should not be used to discriminate against or harm another individual based on gender, age, or sexuality.
References
García-Alamán, A., Blanco-Cuaresma, S., & Montesano, A. (2025). Stereotypical love: A cluster analysis of self-presentation strategies in tinder profile pictures. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 22(11), 2082–2095. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdaf245
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