Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study

Marston, Hannah R.; Morgan, Deborah; Earle, Sarah; Hadley, Robin A.

doi:10.3390/healthcare11060897

Journal article 63 views 16 downloads

Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study

Hannah R. Marston

, Deborah Morgan

, Sarah Earle

, Robin A. Hadley

Healthcare, Volume: 11, Issue: 6, Start page: 897

Swansea University Author: Deborah Morgan

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/healthcare11060897

Abstract

Existing research surrounding dating apps has primarily focused on younger people with few studies exploring usage of such apps by middle aged and older adults. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic challenged social behaviours and forced people to adapt intimacy and wider relationship conduct. The object...

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Published in:	Healthcare
ISSN:	2227-9032
Published:	MDPI AG 2023
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67638
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first_indexed	2024-10-25T10:49:06Z
last_indexed	2024-10-25T10:49:06Z
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spelling	v2 67638 2024-09-10 Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study 6ab809844c56957c0e9773518a251516 0000-0002-3107-3945 Deborah Morgan Deborah Morgan true false 2024-09-10 HSOC Existing research surrounding dating apps has primarily focused on younger people with few studies exploring usage of such apps by middle aged and older adults. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic challenged social behaviours and forced people to adapt intimacy and wider relationship conduct. The objective of this study was to examine how older adults utilized dating apps during the lockdowns of the UK pandemic (December 2020–May 2021). Findings presented here focus on qualitative data collected from an online survey and eight online, one-to-one interviews with adults aged 40–54 years. The online survey targeted adults across the UK while interviewees were located across England. Employing interpretative phenomenological analysis, findings identified three key themes: 1. Morality, health, and law breaking and COVID-19; 2. Self-surveillance and moral signalling; 3. Loneliness and social isolation. Qualitative findings show engaging with apps was a proxy which alleviated feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Some users used the premise of their social bubble as a way of meeting other people. Using the same premise, others justified breaking the law to engage in physical and sexual intimacy to mitigate their loneliness. The work presented here contributes to the fields of social sciences, gerontology, and human computer interaction. The inter- and multi-disciplinary impact of this study intersects across those fields and offers a cross-sectional insight into behaviours and engagement with technology during one of the most extraordinary global events. Journal Article Healthcare 11 6 897 MDPI AG 2227-9032 technology; gerontology; Generation X; gender; pandemic; health; dating apps; loneliness; social isolation; older adults 20 3 2023 2023-03-20 10.3390/healthcare11060897 COLLEGE NANME Health and Social Care School COLLEGE CODE HSOC Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This research received funding from the Health and Wellbeing Strategic Research Area, The Open University. 2024-10-25T11:50:49.3641454 2024-09-10T17:26:51.2108063 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences The Centre for Innovative Ageing Hannah R. Marston 0000-0002-8018-4166 1 Deborah Morgan 0000-0002-3107-3945 2 Sarah Earle 0000-0003-2810-5659 3 Robin A. Hadley 0000-0003-4254-7648 4 67638__32717__0da8e13590454717b6fea3929df3a2ba.pdf 67638.VoR.pdf 2024-10-25T11:49:34.5898669 Output 327036 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study
spellingShingle	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study Deborah Morgan
title_short	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study
title_full	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study
title_fullStr	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study
title_full_unstemmed	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study
title_sort	Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study
author_id_str_mv	6ab809844c56957c0e9773518a251516
author_id_fullname_str_mv	6ab809844c56957c0e9773518a251516_***_Deborah Morgan
author	Deborah Morgan
author2	Hannah R. Marston Deborah Morgan Sarah Earle Robin A. Hadley
format	Journal article
container_title	Healthcare
container_volume	11
container_issue	6
container_start_page	897
publishDate	2023
institution	Swansea University
issn	2227-9032
doi_str_mv	10.3390/healthcare11060897
publisher	MDPI AG
college_str	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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description	Existing research surrounding dating apps has primarily focused on younger people with few studies exploring usage of such apps by middle aged and older adults. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic challenged social behaviours and forced people to adapt intimacy and wider relationship conduct. The objective of this study was to examine how older adults utilized dating apps during the lockdowns of the UK pandemic (December 2020–May 2021). Findings presented here focus on qualitative data collected from an online survey and eight online, one-to-one interviews with adults aged 40–54 years. The online survey targeted adults across the UK while interviewees were located across England. Employing interpretative phenomenological analysis, findings identified three key themes: 1. Morality, health, and law breaking and COVID-19; 2. Self-surveillance and moral signalling; 3. Loneliness and social isolation. Qualitative findings show engaging with apps was a proxy which alleviated feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Some users used the premise of their social bubble as a way of meeting other people. Using the same premise, others justified breaking the law to engage in physical and sexual intimacy to mitigate their loneliness. The work presented here contributes to the fields of social sciences, gerontology, and human computer interaction. The inter- and multi-disciplinary impact of this study intersects across those fields and offers a cross-sectional insight into behaviours and engagement with technology during one of the most extraordinary global events.
published_date	2023-03-20T11:50:47Z
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Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study

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