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Uses fifteen in-depth interviews conducted in a mid-sized U.S. city to examine benefits and challenges. Finds users can interact discreetly and control disclosure, yet masking personal details reduces trust and hinders relationship formation, with implications for understanding how virtual media reshapes stigma-related everyday life.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":51,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/queer-men-and-smartphone-dating-applications-navigating-partner-markets-and-managing-stigma/306028/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/queer-men-and-smartphone-dating-applications-navigating-partner-markets-and-managing-stigma/306028.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Hazel","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-20","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":9},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"What does the study investigate about dating apps?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"It examines the role of geosocial dating applications in the lives of gay and bisexual men, focusing on how these men engage with the technology for dating and connection.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does the study define dating apps in its theoretical framework?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"The study conceives dating apps as “partner markets” and uses Erving Goffman’s insights on stigma, presentation of self, and the interaction order.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What benefits and challenges do the apps create for users?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Users can interact discreetly and control disclosure of stigmatizing information. However, withholding or masking personal details reduces trust and impairs meaningful relationship formation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},306028,1789832157,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":50,"category_name":51,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":9,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":30,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":125,"read_time":139},137441390410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000252f4ab5702993?_k=1776741390130283984","Queer Men and Smartphone Dating Applications:  \nNavigating Partner Markets and Managing Stigma  \nTim W. Arthur* & Emily R. Cabaniss  \nFlorida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA & Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA  \n[twa19@fsu.edu](twa19@fsu.edu)*  \nThis study explores the role of geosocial dating applications in the lives of gay and bisexual men. As a means of managing stigma, virtual mediums have always been popular in the LGBTQ+ community. To better understand how this group is engaging with this technology, we conducted fifteen in-depth interviews with gay and bisexual men living in a mid-sized city in the southern U.S. We conceive of dating apps as “partner markets” and build on Erving Goffman's analytic insights on stigma, presentation of self, and the interaction order. We find that these apps create unique benefits and challenges for users. While men can use them to interact discreetly, the ability to withhold or mask personal detail reduces trust and impairs relationship formation. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings to deepen our understanding of how virtual mediums are reshaping the everyday lives of a stigmatized minority.  \nKEYWORDS: LGBTQ+, Dating apps, Gay and bisexual men, Presentation of Self, Goffman, Partner Markets  \nIntroduction  \nThe desire for love and companionship is universal.  \nCivil society is held together by our fundamental  \nneed to connect; a need vividly illustrated in the coupling process. In Obergefell v. Hodges (2015, p. 14), Justice Anthony Kennedy argued that \"marriage responds to the universal fear that a lonely person might call out only to find no one there. It offers the hope of companionship and understanding and assurance that while both still live there will be someone to care for the other.\" Indeed, Kennedy was laying out the legal rationale for establishing a constitutional right to marriage regardless of sexual orientation. For LGBTQ+ families, individuals, and advocates, a pinnacle had been reached. The ruling granted them “equal dignity in the eyes of the law”(Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015, p. 28) and provided long-awaited legitimation.  \nThe landmark case did not, however, eliminate entrenched anti-gay biases and institutional discrimination across U.S. society. Conservative political and religious leaders continue to call into question the legitimacy of non-heterosexual relationships (Blinder & Lewin, 2015; Lang, 2017; Meyer, 2017) . In state and local municipalities, members of LGBTQ+ communities face ongoing fights for equal access to jobs, housing, and public services (Elliott, 2015; Socarides, 2016), and persistent negative stereotyping of sexual minorities continues to take a toll on their mental health (Berghe, Vanden, Dewaele, Cox, & Vinck, 2010) . These social  \nstressors can have severe consequences for individuals. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that LGBTQ+ youth were three times more likely than their heterosexual peers to have seriously contemplated suicide and five times more likely to have attempted it (Kann et al., 2016) . Gay and bisexual men of all ages are at greater risk than the general population for major depression, bipolar disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016) . Despite victories in the fight for legal affirmation of non-heterosexual relationships, the struggle for full social, economic, and political equality continues. In these paradoxical times, how do members of LGBTQ+ communities navigate the contemporary dating scene in their pursuit of romance and companionship?  \nTechnological advances in communication have offered some solutions for sexual minorities when pursuing romantic relationships in this unsafe reality. Today over twenty percent of heterosexual couples and nearly three-quarters of non-heterosexual couples first meet online (Rosenfeld & Thomas, 2012) . More recently, mobile applications that i","cbCaio2iHsqhXbXB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaio2iHsqhXbXB","pdf",178165,"English","# Introduction\n## Legal and social context for LGBTQ+ relationships\n## Technology and mobile geosocial dating\n# Study aims and theoretical framework\n## Dating apps as partner markets\n## Goffman’s stigma and interaction order\n# Findings\n## Benefits of discreet interaction\n## Challenges to trust and relationship formation","[{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about dating apps?\",\"answer\":\"It examines the role of geosocial dating applications in the lives of gay and bisexual men, focusing on how these men engage with the technology for dating and connection.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study define dating apps in its theoretical framework?\",\"answer\":\"The study conceives dating apps as “partner markets” and uses Erving Goffman’s insights on stigma, presentation of self, and the interaction order.\"},{\"question\":\"What benefits and challenges do the apps create for users?\",\"answer\":\"Users can interact discreetly and control disclosure of stigmatizing information. However, withholding or masking personal details reduces trust and impairs meaningful relationship formation.\"}]","Queer Men and Smartphone Dating Applications - Navigating Partner Markets and Managing Stigma | PDF",6]