Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The emergence and popularization of dating apps have changed the way people meet and interact with potential romantic and sexual partners. In parallel with the increased use of these applications, a remarkable scientific literature has developed. However, due to the recency of the phenomenon, some gaps in the existing research can be expected. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the empirical research of the psychosocial content published in the last five years β on dating apps.
A search was conducted in different databases, and we identified articles in our initial search. After screening titles and abstracts and examining articles in detail, 70 studies were included in the review. The limitations of the literature consulted are discussed, as well as the practical implications of the results obtained, highlighting the relevance of dating apps, which have become a tool widely used by millions of people around the world.
In the last decade, the popularization of the Internet and the use of the smartphone and the emergence of real-time location-based dating apps e. It is difficult to know reliably how many users currently make use of dating apps, due to the secrecy of the developer companies. However, thanks to the information provided by different reports and studies, the magnitude of the phenomenon can be seen online.
For example, the Statista Market Forecast [ 5 ] portal estimated that by the end of , there were more than million active users of dating apps worldwide. It has been noted that more than ten million people use Tinder daily, which has been downloaded more than a hundred million times worldwide [ 6 , 7 ]. Some theoretical reviews related to users and uses of dating apps have been published, although they have focused on specific groups, such as men who have sex with men MSM [ 10 , 11 ] or on certain risks, such as aggression and abuse through apps [ 12 ].
Anzani et al. However, this is not a systematic review of the results of studies published up to that point and it leaves out some relevant aspects that have received considerable research attention, such as the reasons for use of dating apps, or their associated advantages and risks. Thus, we find a recent and changing object of study, which has achieved great social relevance in recent years and whose impact on research has not been adequately studied and evaluated so far.
