Emerging adulthood is the transitional developmental stage from the late teens through the early twenties when individuals explore possibilities, particularly in the domains of love, work, and identity (Arnett, 2000). This study focuses on emerging adults use of mobile dating applications (apps), in order to meet their social and relationship needs. First, it explored whether individual factors, such as sensation seeking, identity exploration, loneliness, and relationship status predicted mobile dating app use. Second, it examined whether sensation seeking and identity exploration predicted motives for using mobile dating apps (i.e., motives related to entertainment, trendiness, hookups, or finding love) and whether motives predicted meeting matches in person. An online survey of 267 college students was used to explore these relationships. Findings suggest that sensation seeking, identity exploration, loneliness, and relationship status did not predict mobile dating app use. Among mobile dating app users, sensation seeking positively predicted using mobile dating apps because they are trendy and for hookups, whereas identity exploration positively predicted using mobile dating apps for entertainment and negatively predicted using mobile dating apps for hookups. Only motives for finding love positively predicted meeting matches in person. These findings suggest that while individual characteristics did not predict who was more likely to meet matches in person, they do predict some specific motivations for using mobile dating apps. Furthermore, the intended purpose of using mobile dating apps predicts whether a mobile dating app user will meet their match in person.
