A new study has made a shocking discovery: men are more likely to hookup using a dating app if the battery on their cellphone is low.
Researchers at the Department of Psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Canada completed the study, which appeared in the pages of Sexuality & Culture earlier this month.
The conclusion: “When individuals are faced with a low phone battery, a sense of urgency may be experienced.” This can “increase risk-taking behaviors to accommodate an impending phone ‘death.'”
The study involved 262 men who have sex with men, all of whom used at least one hookup app like Tinder or Grindr on at least a weekly basis.
Each was assigned a battery life group–5%, 20%, and 100%–and given a chat conversation to review. The results revealed that men in the 5% and 20% groups were more likely to agree to a hookup.
“We discovered that, relative to a full battery condition, participants were more likely to agree to a hookup in the lowest battery condition,” the researchers say in the study.
“Additionally, men who reported a greater likelihood of agreeing to a hookup also endorsed a greater propensity for sensation seeking, regardless of the battery condition.”
Though widely considered the first study on hookup behavior as it relates to battery life, the study found an interesting correlation with other apps. For example, Uber reports that riders are more likely to pay a premium rate if battery life is low. It appears the perceived time limit increases a sense of urgency.
“The results offer insight into how something apparently inconsequential,” the study concludes, “such as a cellphone battery, can impair decision-making about something of far greater consequence – in this case, the decision to engage in an online sexual encounter.”
Maybe it’s time to carry that spare battery charger?
Related: Global Grindr outage leaves whole world in a panic for approximately one hour
Kathukid
That would correlate to bar closing time in my day.
StudMuffin
Yes! I remember that happening back in the 60s.
Oops. I gave my age away.
MikeE
1) 262 men does NOT a valid study make.
2) Kwantlen is a polytechnique school, concentrating on applied sciences and immediate work-force entry programs. it isn’t a “research university”.
3) please stop posting these stupid “studies” as though they mean something, when they patently do NOT fit any criteria for a serious study.
Doug
This is a ridiculous study.
bluberybandit
Yes, it’s called Grindr, Scruff, Hornet, Recon, etc…They say specifically that it’s “262 men who have sex with men”. There’s nothing implying that these people are straight, bi, whatever. If you are a man that has sex with men, you’re probably queer, don’t you think? What a ham-handed way of explaining what we in the U.S. call it…..desperation. Idiotsticks!
StudMuffin
A battery is too small to be satisfying.
Terrycloth
Is this a thing now ? Have actual phone sex with your phone battery ? Beyond werid
CenterRight
One of the biggest Achilles heels for gays is the sick obsession with cheap sex and how easy it is for them to get it. In the incessant pursuit of their filthy lust, many gays forget their morals, their integrity, and their discipline just for 10 minutes of fun. Really?
Kangol2
CenterRight (HereNAgain/CastleSF, etc.), you never fail to offer us your Church Lady imitations. You regularly denounce sex and intimacy, and anything (poppers in another thread) that enhances either one, and you love to talk about morals and integrity, but you expressed a soft spot for a man (was he a murderer?) who took advantage of vulnerable young men. Something doesn’t compute. Sex between consenting adults isn’t as scary as you constantly seem to think it is, and it can be joyful and liberatory. You really should try it; it might help retool those “morals” and loosen that rigidity. And I remember that you’d never been to a SF gay parade or fair, so I hope you rectify that this year.
CenterRight
I denounce cheap promiscuous sex but value true intimacy and monogamous, committed relationships based on honesty, compassion, and discipline. Kangol, you always set your bar so low for gays, as long as it is consensual sex. The truth is, we can do much better than that. What about watching less porn or no porn at all? What about stop having meaningless sex with strangers? What about going out to wine bars and churches/synagogues to meet real people instead of looking for your next anonymous trick on the hookup apps?
LostMyClothesAgain
Unfortunately, CenterRight has probably been on the receiving end of “No Asians” bigotry. He’s a handsome man and would be fun to have slammed and cuffed in a sling … provided that he is wearing a mouth gag.
CenterRight
I have read a lot of rude comments here but what you said is just plain sinister and totally uncalled for.
LostMyClothesAgain
Rude? Sinister? Uncalled for? I sincerely find CenterRight to be a physically sexy man. However, his being able to speak would be a deal breaker.
frankcar1965
Troll alert!!! Queerty shill!!! Don’t fall for it, they are just keeping folks reading.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
CenterDbag: Yes it’s actually a lot of fun having random hook up with attractive guys!
Too bad on you that you are so unattractive, undesirable, and unwanted that you resort to trolling this site with your pathetic posts…
Bitter much???
just me
this reminds me of how in the old days, way back in the dark ages of the 1980s, we used to rate guys on a scale of 10:00 – 3:00, 10:00 being the guy you wanted to pick up the moment you walked into the club, 3:00 being the one you ended up with at 3:00, half an hour after the club closed and everybody went home…
LostMyClothesAgain
I haven’t charged a cell phone in a decade. I prefer phones with removable batteries and have a stack of 20 charged batteries in my house / cars / backpack. If desired I could have sex non-stop for 7 days and make CenterRight’s head explode. Unfortunately smartphones are moving toward waterproof non-removable batteries. Luckily I keep a few burner phones around for buying drugs, viewing porn and engaging in groups/gangbangs.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I think I was at your place Wednesday night….
Billy Budd
Hilarious.