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From swipes to intimacy: dating app adoption and offline hookup intention among male rural migrant workers

delete2026-06-15
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OA
AI
宋霖霈 cover
宋霖霈 (Linpei Song)
Z
Zhuang Ma *
H
Hongfei Tan
Y
Yu Jia
I
Ijeoma G. Ukeni
DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2026.2685113delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Drawing on the uses and gratifications theory and social learning theory, this study establishes a convergence model to examine the predictors of dating app adoption and subsequent offline hookup intentions among male rural migrant workers in China. Theoretically, we conceptualize adoption as a mechanism where internal drives, grounded in technological affordances of portability and locationality, converge with external peer validation to shape intention. Our time-lagged survey data from 414 rural migrant workers (further validated by a supplementary sample of 326 married workers) in China confirmed that three basic user motives (pastime, distraction, and socializing), perceived social approval, and social comparison are associated with dating app adoption (DAA), with these relationships positively moderated by person-group value fit. Moreover, DAA mediates the relationship between these antecedents and offline hookup intention, with the transition significantly weakened by situational ethical misgivings. This study contributes to the literature by elucidating the moral proximity paradox in the context of economically underprivileged users, offering practical recommendations for peer-led safety interventions, employer-sponsored offline recreation, and trust-centric app design features.
Keywords:
Hookup intentions
male rural migrant workers
person-group value fit
situational ethical misgivings

Journal

I
information, communication & society
IF:
0
Papers:
134
Citations:
0

Organization

C
chongqing technology and business university
Scholars:
393
Papers: 187
Citations: 0
U
university of huddersfield
Scholars:
493
Papers: 248
Citations: 0
H
hunan institute of science and technology
Scholars:
613
Papers: 169
Citations: 0
W
wuhan university
Scholars:
7.8W
Papers: 5.7W
Citations: 70
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