Ideological cues: Fishing photos and US flags reduce romantic interest among liberal daters on dating apps

Abstract

This study investigates how visual cues in dating app profiles affect perceived political ideology and romantic interest, and how these effects intersect with demographic characteristics, political ideology, and color-blind racial attitudes—a modern form of racism in which individuals believe that racism is not a significant societal issue. Using a stratified sample of 676 recent dating app users, participants viewed dating app profiles that varied in the hobby (i.e., knitting, fishing, gardening) and flag (i.e., Black Lives Matter, US, Dartmouth) displayed in the profile picture. Results show that profiles featuring fishing or US flags were perceived as more conservative by liberal participants, women, and those with lower color-blind racial attitudes. These effects were stronger for white profiles and men's profiles, indicating that visual cues may be especially salient for those dating white men. Liberal participants and those with lower color-blind racial attitudes also reported being less interested in profiles with US flags. While liberal participants were highly responsive to these signals and interpreted them as cues of political ideology, conservative participants did not, suggesting important differences in cue interpretation across political parties. The findings highlight the role of visual heuristics in partner selection on dating apps and suggest the interpretation of these cues may contribute to political homophily.