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Dating App Habits Tie to Opposite Anxiety Patterns in Men
In A Nutshell
- Straight men who used both mainstream and gay dating apps reported higher anxiety than other straight men.
- Gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men using both app types reported less anxiety, depression, and stress than those using one.
- Only 23 straight men used both app types, so that finding rests on a small group.
- A one-time survey of 578 Australian men cannot show that dating apps cause anxiety.
Straight men who have used both mainstream apps like Tinder and gay dating apps like Grindr report significantly higher anxiety than other straight men who stick to one app type or skip dating apps entirely, according to a new Australian study. Their depression and stress scores ran higher too. For gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men, using both kinds of apps is linked to lower anxiety, depression, and stress than using just one.
Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide surveyed 578 Australian men, ages 18 to 69, about their dating app habits and mental health, then published the results in the journal Psychology & Sexuality.
Dating apps keep gaining users worldwide, and men are often more avid users than women, the paper notes. Past research has often tied dating app use to worse mental health without separating app types. The split by orientation makes this work worth a second look. The authors say theirs is the first study to compare men who use gay apps, mainstream apps, both, or neither.
Nearly Half of 578 Men Used Both Dating App Types
Recruitment ran through ads on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn, plus paid promotion on Grindr. Of more than 3,000 clicks on the survey link, 578 usable responses remained after bot traffic and unfinished surveys were removed. Each man spent about eight minutes answering questions between June and August 2024. The average age was 34, and 77% of the group was white. About 73% identified as sexual minority men, a label covering gay, bisexual, and other men who are not straight.
Men were sorted into four groups: nonusers, mainstream-only users, gay-app-only users, and users of both types, the largest group at 44%. Former users were counted alongside current ones, and roughly 3 in 10 app users had stopped using apps.
Participants answered questionnaires on depression, anxiety, and stress, where higher scores meant more symptoms. Self-esteem and disordered eating (unhealthy eating habits) were assessed too. A body image questionnaire proved too unreliable in this sample to trust, so the authors set those results aside. Results were adjusted for age.
Straight Men Using Both Dating Apps Reported More Anxiety
Among straight men, anxiety scores for those using both app types averaged 17 on a 21-point scale, compared with 9 to 12 for the other straight men.
One caution: only 23 of the 159 straight men used both app types, and just 10 used only gay apps, so these averages rest on small groups and may not describe all straight men.
Gay apps attract more than gay men. Earlier research notes that bisexual men, sexually curious men, and straight men seeking friendships use them too. The survey did not ask men why they used the apps, but the authors proposed internal conflict as a possible explanation. A man who identifies as straight but uses apps built for men seeking men might wrestle with questions about his sexuality or worry about being seen there. They cited cognitive dissonance, the discomfort of holding two clashing ideas at once. This idea was not tested.
Sexual Minority Men Using Both Dating Apps Reported Less Anxiety
For sexual minority men, the pattern reversed. Those using both types averaged an anxiety score of about 13, compared with about 17 for mainstream-only users and about 16 for gay-app-only users. The authors called the result “surprising,” since it runs against most earlier research and against the straight men’s pattern.
One possible explanation is that more kinds of apps raise the odds of finding what a man wants, whether love, sex, or exploring his identity. Earlier research links feeling successful on dating apps to better psychological well-being.
Sexual minority men who skipped apps entirely did not differ significantly from app users. Sexual minority men also reported more depression, anxiety, and stress, along with lower self-esteem, than straight men. The authors named discrimination, internalized homophobia (a negative view of one’s own sexuality), and community exclusion outside the apps as possible reasons for both patterns. None of those factors were measured.
App type made no significant difference in self-esteem or disordered eating either. That surprised the authors, given reports of lean body ideals and weight-based judgment on gay apps. Gay apps show a grid of many profiles at once, much like an Instagram feed, while Tinder shows one profile at a time. The authors speculated that the picture-heavy nature of all such platforms, Instagram and Snapchat included, may explain why no single app stood out.
Dating App Findings Cannot Prove Cause and Effect
A single survey cannot show whether apps shape anxiety or whether anxious men gravitate toward certain apps. Recruiting partly through Grindr may also mean the sample does not mirror Australian men who date. Men were not randomly assigned to apps, so other group differences could play a role.
Lumping all dating app users into one group hides real differences. A straight man juggling two types of apps and a gay man doing the same thing land in different places on anxiety, so their results should not be treated as interchangeable.
Disclaimer: This article summarizes a single published study for general information only. It is not medical or mental health advice and should not replace guidance from a qualified health professional.
Paper Notes
Limitations
This was a cross-sectional study, meaning it captured one point in time, so it cannot establish cause and effect between dating app use and mental health. It remains unclear whether people with existing mental health concerns are more likely to use these apps or whether app use contributes to worse outcomes. Participants were partly recruited through paid advertising on Grindr, so the sample may not match the broader population of Australian men who date, and most participants were white. The groups of straight men who used both app types (23) or only gay apps (10) were small. The survey did not ask men why they used the apps, and the explanations offered for the findings, including cognitive dissonance, perceived dating app success, and stressors outside the apps, were not directly tested. The body image questionnaire (the Revised Male Body Attitudes Scale) showed poor reliability, so those results were reported separately in an appendix. The authors note that combining gay, bisexual, asexual, and other sexual minority identities into one category may have affected results, and that including both current and former app users may have influenced comparisons with nonusers. The eating questionnaire was originally developed for women, so the authors say further validation in men may be necessary.
Funding and Disclosures
Authors reported no potential conflict of interest. The paper includes no funding statement. Participants were offered entry into a raffle for a $50 AUD gift voucher.
Publication Details
Zac Bowman, Murray Drummond, Ivanka Prichard, and Jasmine M. Petersen, affiliated with Flinders University in South Australia, including the Flinders Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing, wrote the study, titled “Designed to be deleted: differential impacts of dating apps on men’s body image, mental health, and wellbeing.” It was published online September 16, 2026, in the journal Psychology & Sexuality (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group), after being received November 30, 2025, and accepted September 8, 2026. DOI: 10.1080/19419899.2026.2734896. The article is open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Corresponding author: Zac Bowman.
