Assortative (online) dating: Insights into partner choice from an experimental dating app

In Western nations, the simultaneous increases in interracial relationships and the use of dating apps such as Tinder have raised questions regarding the influence of dating apps on partner choice. This study examines whether principles of assortative mating – people's tendency to select partners similar to them – apply to dating apps, or whether the reduced cue environment used on these apps leads users to choose more heterogeneous partners. Young (age <28) Dutch participants (N = 522) used a mock dating app in which potential partners were either White or non-White, relatively low or high educated, and possessed an ethnically Dutch or non-Dutch name. Results pointed to educational assortativity for higher-educated participants and indicated that profile pictures, rather than names, influenced the choice of a White target for participants with a Dutch family background.