Motivations Behind the Use of Dating Apps

Abstract

This capstone project investigates the motivation behind the use of dating applications. It looks at the traditional forms of interacting with potential partners and how online media has become a new way for people to meet and have romantic interactions. The main goal of this capstone project is to explore the motivations that people have when using dating applications in the hope of applying such an understanding when counselling people who have used online dating services in establishing their relationship. By exploring the motivations that people have when engaging in online dating, it should be possible to determine if use of these services can have a negative or positive impact on relationships. A thorough investigation is made by using past literature that relates to culture, neurobiological perspectives, psychological perspectives, historical perspectives, and technology on romantic love. It is determined that historically, romantic love was closely associated to reproduction. However, has society has changed, so has the concept of romantic love, whereby it has been dissociated from sex. These findings are then used to create an online workshop for counsellors to explore the impact of technology and other elements of modern life on romantic love.