Aramis Dennan

Doctor of Clinical Psychology, (Clinical Psychology)
Study Completed: 2020
College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Citation

Thesis Title
A Dominant Swipe: Does Ambivalent Sexism Impact Young Adults’ Engagement with Dating Applications?

Young adulthood can be a significant period in people’s lives, as there is a shift in focus from adolescent development to the formation of relationships. As relationship beliefs and technology have simultaneously developed over time, there is a growing need for research into relationship formation processes in a new technological era. However, research on mobile dating applications and the possible psychological underpinnings driving their use has been limited. Mr Dennan investigated the degree to which endorsement of a complimentary set of sexist ideologies predicted dating application engagement among 1000 international young adults. He found that ultimately, there was little support for the assertion that endorsement of sexist beliefs predicted dating application use. The study initiated an important conversation about the role of sexist beliefs within dating applications and establishes new questions for further research in the field.

Supervisors
Associate Professor Paul Merrick
Associate Professor Kirsty Ross
Dr Matt Williams