Elisabeth Timmermans

Development and validation of the Tinder Motives Scale (TMS)

Recently, Tinder became the most popular mobile dating application. Although it is initially designed as a dating application, not much is known about actual motives for using this new medium. Consequently, this project aimed to develop and evaluate a new scale that assesses Tinder motives by relying on 3262 participants. Four studies were conducted: one qualitative interview study in the USA (Study 1: N=18) and three quantitative studies in Belgium (Study 2: N=1728; Study 3: N=485; and Study 4: N=1031). The resulting Tinder Motives Scale (TMS) consists of 58 items and shows a replicable factor structure with 13 reliable Tinder motives, which are discussed in light of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. Four independent studies were conducted to examine Tinder motives.A psychometrically sound assessment instrument was developed.13 Tinder motives were found.Offline outcomes (e.g., meeting) depend on the motives for using Tinder.Users are not exclusively looking for relational or sexual intimacy on Tinder.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Mediating Role of Family Support and Parental Advice Quality on the Relationship Between Family Communication Patterns and First-Year College Student Adjustment in the United States and Belgium

This study examines how college students’ family communication environments influence their adjustment during the first year of college in two distinct cultures: Belgium (n = 513) and the United States (n = 431). Three structural equation models were tested to determine the mediating effects of (a) perceived family support, (b) quality of academic advice from parents, and (c) quality of social advice from parents on associations between family communication patterns (FCPs) and student adjustment. Although most relationships are more complicated than predicted based on FCP theory and research, several patterns occur across models and populations. Conversation orientation tends to foster positive adjustment for both cultures while conformity orientation promotes negative adjustment for Belgian students. In addition, perceived family support and advice quality mediate several relationships between FCP and academic self-efficacy, college stress, and loneliness. Differences between the two cultures, theoretical implications for FCP, and practical implications for academic counselors are discussed along with avenues for future research.

The Bridget Jones Effect: The Relationship Between Exposure to Romantic Media Contents and Fear of Being Single Among Emerging Adults.

Based on cultivation theory, this study examines whether an individual’s exposure to romantic media contents would be significantly related to their fear of being single. Analyses on a cross-sectional sample of 18- to 25-year olds (N = 821) did not show a significant overall relationship between exposure to romantic media contents and fear of being single, but moderation results indicated that this relationship did exist for women who were single themselves. Suggesting that romantic media contents might contribute to the fear of being single only for specific members of this genre’s audience, these findings could have general implications for theorizing on cultivation-type media effects.