Meet Joe Black? The effects of mortality salience and similarity on the Desire to Date in-group versus out-group members online

Abstract

Online dating has become an important resource for building intimate relationships. Similarity and group membership have been found to be as important for online and off-line dating. Research on terror management theory has shown that both factors shield against death anxieties, indicating difficulties for dissimilar and intergroup couples. Yet, no study—so far—has investigated both factors simultaneously after mortality salience (MS). To close this gap, the current study presented German participants ( N = 249) with a dating app that randomly assigned them to a MS or control condition. Afterward, a candidate following a 2(group membership) × 2(similarity) design was suggested. After MS, in contrast to the control group, similarity increased and dissimilarity decreased the Desire to Date in-group but not out-group members.