Self-Presentation in Online Dating – An Analysis of Behavioural Diversity

Proceedings of the 20th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2016, nominated for Best Paper Award)

16 Pages Posted: 12 Oct 2016

See all articles by Martin Haferkorn

Martin Haferkorn

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration; European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

Moritz Christian Weber

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Date Written: October 11, 2016

Abstract

Human communication experiences a major shift towards virtual interactions and social networks. These virtual environments enable users to present themselves to a virtual audience. In this paper we analyze a unique online dating data set from a mobile application, which allows observing the user’s diversity in terms of gender and sexual orientation and their individual and environmental influences. Based on the research streams on impression management, online dating, diversity of gender and sexual orientation we derive hypotheses on similarity and differences in the group behavior. We also analyze how deviations from the group mean behaviors affect the level of self-presentation. Our results give indication that gender research requires a more diverse perspective when analyzing male and female behavior. We find first evidence that deviations from group behavior is emotionally related to the user’s self-presentation, contrary to this the information content shared with other users seems not to be affected. Our results further indicate that individual and environmental influences have an effect on the amount of shared information as well as the emotional level of self-presentation.

Keywords: Impression Management, Online Dating, Sexual Orientation, Dating Platform

JEL Classification: Z10

Suggested Citation

Haferkorn, Martin and Haferkorn, Martin and Weber, Moritz Christian, Self-Presentation in Online Dating – An Analysis of Behavioural Diversity (October 11, 2016). Proceedings of the 20th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2016, nominated for Best Paper Award), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2850844

Martin Haferkorn (Contact Author)

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 4
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ( email )

201-203 Rue de Bercy
​Paris, 75012
France

Moritz Christian Weber

Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Grueneburgplatz 1
Frankfurt am Main, 60323
Germany

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