Examining Filipino’s mobile dating app addiction and its effect on their mental health and intention to ghost online

• Main Author: Soto, Juan Paolo E.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2024
• Subjects: Mobile apps; Online dating > Philippines; Internet addiction; Mental health
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_behsc/13; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdm_behsc/article/1018/viewcontent/2024_Soto_Examining_Filipino_s_Mobile_Dating_App_Addiction_and_its_Effect_o.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Originally intended as a tool to connect people and find romance, the role of mobile dating apps as a mediator of the dating process has transformed into a personal asylum to satisfy one's physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. Addiction to mobile dating apps was found to have detrimental effects on one’s health and well-being. This study focused on mobile dating app addiction among Filipino mobile dating app users and examined its effect on their mental health and ghosting intentions. It also attempted to establish the link between the quality of their perceived body image and self-esteem and their level of mobile dating app addiction. Through convenience sampling, four hundred fifty-one (451) Filipino mobile dating app users were recruited from Social Media platforms and popular mobile dating applications. The main phenomenon, mobile dating app addiction, the antecedent, and outcome variables were measured using an online survey questionnaire. Three hundred fifteen (315) responses came from the at-risk subgroup, while one hundred thirty-one (131) responses came from the not-at-risk subgroup. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests compared the results between the at-risk and not-at-risk subgroups, while Spearman’s Rho Correlation tests confirmed the strength and direction between the study variables. Findings revealed that at-risk respondents in the study were mostly low-income, male, LGBTQA+, Generation Z Filipino MDA users who had neutral perceived body image, normal self-esteem levels, and moderate MDA addiction. They were also at risk of extremely severe depression, extremely severe anxiety, and moderate levels of stress. They also reported moderate levels of ghosting intentions. Perceived body image and self-esteem were not found to be correlated to mobile dating app addiction in this study. Meanwhile, mobile dating app addiction had a weak positive correlation with depression and stress among Filipino MDA users. It was also correlated with ghosting intentions. The study concluded that Filipino mobile dating app users with higher MDA addiction were at higher risk of depression and stress. They also have greater intentions to ghost others online.