Online Dating Burnout Explained: Understanding the relationships between platform usage, social identity threat, and emotional exhaustion
(A2025-125680)

AUTHORS

Michelle Ølgaard, Aarhus University; Lina Jacobsen, Aarhus University

ABSTRACT

Online dating is a rapidly growing industry, with millions of users globally. However, understanding how engagement with these platforms impacts users is limited. This study hypothesizes that online dating users experience burnout in relation to increased usage frequency which may be explained by the social identity threat tied to being seen as a “typical online dater”. In an online survey, online dating users (n = 970) reported their experiences. The data were analyzed using SEM. Results indicate that usage frequency is positively related to the initial step of online dating burnout, and that this relation is only partially explained by social identity threat. This study contributes to the literature in both digital and social media consumer behavior by linking usage frequency to users’ level of online dating burnout, by introducing social identity threat as a partially explanatory factor, and by relating behavioral and identity factors to online dating burnout.