Why Tinder is a bad idea for men who are not models.
In this application for flirting, the success that men and women have is totally different.
Believe it or not, the behavior of users who use the Internet or various online applications is increasingly valued by Psychology as an important source of data about how we are and how we act. If, in addition, this online behavior is related to our more emotional and instinctive side, so much the better.
Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps of the moment. of the moment. The simplicity of its use, coupled with the large number of users who use it around the world, makes it a recurring option for those who want to meet people for sexual or romantic purposes.
But just because Tinder is popular does not mean it is fair or equitable. In fact, there are data that indicate that, for most of the male sex with high expectations about their chances of finding someone they find very attractive, this application could be a waste of time. Because Tinder is one of the most unequal ecosystems depending on whether you are male or female, as we will see.
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Why Tinder is unfair to men, according to a study
What is done in Tinder is basically to make a quick filtering of users, separating those who interest us from those who do not with a simple finger movement (left or right). In this way, we can chat only with the people we have "accepted" and who, in turn, when our user profile appears to them, have selected us.
On the other hand, Tinder can be understood as an economy. Here, instead of monetary units, there are "likes", and the richest people are those who have been accepted by a greater number of users, which translates into greater chances of meeting someone interesting.
Well, a recent research shows that women "like" 12% of the men whose profile appears on whose profile appears on Tinder. However, that does not mean at all that every man will be accepted at least one out of every 10 times his picture appears to a female user, since the vast majority of "likes" go to a minority of men: only the most attractive ones. This is a pattern that does not occur in reverse, in the selection behavior used by men.
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To what extent is there inequality in this flirting app?
From what can be estimated in this simple study, the inequality between the "likes" received by the least attractive men and the most attractive men is absolutely overwhelming even if we compare it with those received by women in each of the extremes of beauty (estimated according to the opinions of the people in charge of selecting them).
Specifically, in the conclusions of this research it appears that, if we order the men who use Tinder making the first ones the most attractive and the last ones the least attractive, 80% of them starting from the end (less attractive) compete for 22% of the women also starting from the endwhile 78% of women starting with the most attractive compete for the "top" 20% of men.
Thus, the minority of men who are rated as especially attractive will be accepted by 20% of women, while those who are slightly less attractive will have significantly lower "richness in likes". This decline will continue to be steep as we move to men who are rated as not especially attractive, and will will especially prey on the least attractive 50%..
Tinder's Gini coefficient
The Gini coefficient is a widely used tool to measure the degree of inequality that exists in various economic systems around the world. Its value is between 0 and 1, with 0 being the number that corresponds to systems in which there is no inequality and 1 being obtained when analyzing economies in which all the wealth belongs to one individual and the rest have nothing.
What is Tinder's Gini index taking into account the data obtained by this research? Its value is 0.58, its economy is more unequal than 95% of all countries on the planet, sharing a position countries on the planet, sharing position with nations such as Namibia, Angola or Botswana. Fortunately, a population's ability to find food and shelter does not depend on the mechanics of this dating app.
Why does this difference occur?
There are several ways to understand this difference between the behavior of the two sexes. However, the one that tends to be the strongest in explaining this kind of differentiation is that of psychology. is the one based on evolutionary psychology.. From this perspective, many researchers argue that in our species, as in the vast majority of animals that reproduce sexually, males compete for females because the reproductive value of females is always greater.
The reason? In addition to doing their part in the formation of the zygote, they bear the hardest part of reproduction: creating the largest, most expensive, and therefore limited in number, type of gametes, and in many cases become vulnerable during pregnancy and in many cases are left in a vulnerable situation..
In this sense, the males must be the ones to compensate for their lack of commitment to reproduction by competing hard with the rest of the males in terms of the quantity of females, while the females concentrate on selecting according to the quality of each male.Whether or not this explanation fits the reality of the civilized human being is something that is totally open to discussion.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)