Department
School of Communication and Media
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-8-2025
Embargo Period
7-15-2025
Abstract
Introduction: Online dating is a popular way for individuals to connect today, and the visual elements of an online dating profile have become an essential part of online dating. The current study examined how media richness, visual blurriness, and beautification of an online dating profile’s visual elements would influence online dating outcomes.
Methods: We conducted an online dating experiment with 10 different conditions with younger adults between 18 and 35 (n = 389).
Results: The results showed that the richer visual elements and the beautified selfie in an online dating profile predicted a number of dating outcomes, including stronger perceived positive traits, more favorable profile assessments, and stronger dating intentions. Moreover, we found such impacts to be gendered, where beautification did not change the assessment of the male profiles but significantly improved all assessments of the female profiles.
Discussion: The findings suggested some differences in how visual variations impacted online dating and revealed some interesting differences in the expectations of online dating profile visuals.
Journal Title
Frontiers in Communication
Journal ISSN
2297-900X
Volume
10
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.3389/fcomm.2025.1572179
Comments
This article received funding through Kennesaw State University's Faculty Open Access Publishing Fund, supported by the KSU Library System and KSU Office of Research.