At least 40 million Americans use one or more of the dozens of online dating services and mobile apps that have cropped up in the last six years. Millennials aged 18 to 30 spend an average of 10 hours a week flicking through the portraits and profiles on sites like Tinder, Bumble, Grindr and Hinge. The biggest, Tinder, sees up to 1.
Early humans encountered just a few dozen potential mates over a lifetime. And even though 80 percent of dating-app users say they turn to them in hopes of finding a long-term partner, Sales says, the apps instead reward behaviors that undermine and, eventually, destroy relationships. THE fault lies in their very design, which exploits our brain chemistry through a calculated program of intermittent rewards that arrive regularly but unpredictably, just like the occasional jackpots of a slot machine.
Badeen based the function on the theories of Harvard behavioral scientist B. A variable ratio schedule, Skinner maintained, is what hooks us on gambling devices. The payoffs, when they happen, bathe our brains in a feel-good hit of dopamine β and the unpredictability goads us into trying for just one more win. And even the apps that talk a good relationship game trend in the same Tinder-fied direction, users say.
Download it, download it, download it! But here they were, literally giving girls to guys. Fish pics, for example. The photo of a young man hoisting a just-caught sailfish or trout is a common Tinder trope. An August study released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons noted a sharp rise in procedures for girls under age 19 β tying that stat to the fact that the average millennial will take more than 25, selfies in his or her lifetime. In "Swiped," Cheyenne right, with Alex laments how dating apps reduce users to just their physical appearances.
