Using Tinder® to start a fire: Predicting antisocial use of Tinder® with gender and the Dark Tetrad

Online dating continues to grow in popularity and is associated with significant advantages; however, experiencing antisocial behaviours when online dating is a distinct possibility. The aim of the current study was to explore the utility of gender and the dark personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism in predicting perpetration of a range of antisocial behaviours on the popular dating app Tinder. It was hypothesised that the male gender and higher scores on these personality traits would predict perpetration of antisocial behaviours on Tinder. Participants (N = 587; 21% men, 79% women) completed an online questionnaire, including the Antisocial Uses of Tinder® Scale which was constructed to measure a range of antisocial behaviours. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses revealed three forms of antisocial behaviours (General, esteem, and sexual) which explained over half of the variance (58.99%) of variance in the Antisocial Uses of Tinder® measure. Regression analyses were run for each form of antisocial behaviour, and the predictive utility of gender and the dark traits were found to differ across the antisocial behaviours. Results of the current study support an individual differences approach to exploring antisocial behaviours online, particularly when online dating.