2025/11/18 by Jaime García-Iglesias, Brian Heaphy, Neta Yodovich +1 · 1 voice
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues #Marriage and Sexual Relationships
paper · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118799
openalex created_date 2025/11/18 · openalex publication_date 2025/11/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
This paper examines the role of dating apps as mediators of intimacy and risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing quantitative and qualitative data from a UK based study of heterosexual and LGBQ+ people’s (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer plus ‘other’ identified) dating app use, we investigate how users navigated the tensions between their desires for intimate and social connections and the imperatives of viral safety. Existing studies of dating app use tend to be based on samples of mostly heterosexual people, with unidentified or small numbers of LGBQ+ people. This undermines a fuller understanding of the potentially diverse ways in which gender and sexuality interact to shape the negotiation of risk. The paper examines study participants’ practices in negotiating viral risk in app-based interactions, and positions dating apps as actors within broader sociocultural and public health contexts. We argue that while dating apps have potential to facilitate intimacy and viral safety in future pandemics, their use raises sidelined challenges for health promotion that are linked partially to the interaction of gender and sexuality, but more so to trust. • Dating apps reshaped intimacy and risk during COVID-19 in the UK. • Frequent app use linked to breaching social distancing guidelines. • Users balanced viral risk with desires for social connection. • Apps actively promoted safety while managing commercial goals. • Trust and implicit negotiations were key in app-mediated interactions.