Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Sociology

Advisor

Van C. Tran

Committee Members

Jessica Halliday Hardie

Philip Kasinitz

Jeremy Porter

Subject Categories

Family, Life Course, and Society | Other Sociology | Science and Technology Studies | Sociology

Keywords

dating apps, online dating, Latinos, emerging adulthood, online identity, homophily

Abstract

This dissertation examines how Latino young adults navigate dating apps; construct their dating app profiles, select partners and develop preferences, and conceptualize their futures. While earlier dating app research explores these themes with quantitative data or with non-Latino samples, the qualitative experiences of Latino young adults have been broadly excluded. Latinos are a large portion of the dating app market, and their relationships, outcomes, and future family formation are integral to understand. Drawing on 60 qualitative interviews with Latino young adult dating app users, I find that app users encounter five stages of dating app usage including constructing and often socially iterating upon their profiles. Over the many swipes, partner preferences evolve as app users seek out an increasingly specific person who may be impossible to find and may not exist. Dating app usage, therefore, becomes an endless search in which app users put in significant effort and work to find their ideal date. This results in a dating-on-demand mindset in which app users plan to slot in long-term dating after completing their financial, career, and academic goals. By revealing the complex process and impact of dating app usage, this study adds to our understanding of online romance, relationship formation, and the modern romantic lives of young adults as intermediated by technology.

Download

Share

COinS