Dating apps and young adults in college: motivations and meanings subjective

• Grant number: 23/07547-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: April 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Social Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Name Risk
• Grantee: João Felipe Dias Ferreira
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, the amount of internet access and social network users has grown exponentially. In this context, dating apps mediate the affective-sexual experience, especially among young adults. The use of these apps, via smartphones, has changed sociability and considerably affected affective-sexual patterns in the university environment. The use of dating apps is guided by motivational factors and subjective meanings attributed to these digital platforms and the affective-sexual sociability relationships produced by them. This study aims to understand motivations and subjective perceptions related to the use of dating apps by young adults in college. This will be a qualitative, exploratory and cross-sectional study. We will select ten young college students of both genders, whose ages range from 18 to 24 years, single (marital status), regardless of social class, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity, who report having used dating apps in the last three months. The data collection will consist in the application of a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview script. Two sessions of semi-structured interviews will be conducted with each participant based on a specific script. Each session will be recorded on audio and transcribed in full. Participants will answer a socioeconomic questionnaire and participate in a semi-structured interview session on the motivations and subjective meanings related to the use of dating apps. The research protocol will be submitted to the UFSCar's Ethics in Human Research Committee (CEP). Quantitative data will be analyzed using simple statistics to describe the participant group. The qualitative data collected will be analyzed using the Inductive Thematic Analysis technique. The collected material will be interpreted according to the theoretical referential adopted in the study.