Overview

How do we fall in love in the 21st century? In Dating Apps, Modern Romance, and Social Inequality, Hannah Regan explores the impact dating apps have had on how we meet potential partners and decide who to date. In particular, Regan considers our tendency to fall in love with people who are very similar to us, and how dating apps both facilitate this preference and challenge us to think outside the box. By sharing the stories of dating app users, the book raises important questions about how social inequality exists in our intimate lives, and how technology reinforces these long-held social beliefs. This book situates current patterns of dating and relationships within the historical context of courtship, to explore how the introduction of new technology has changed romantic partnerships. Despite these new possibilities, the analysis encourages us to question whether dating is, in fact, changing, or whether we are simply enacting the same old social patterns in new ways. Challenging the assumptions which shape dating preferences in turn challenges the social structures of power and inequality which underlie them.

Full Product Details

Author:   Hannah Regan
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN:  

9781666973822

ISBN 10:   1666973823
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   11 December 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Figures List of Tables Introduction: The Sociological Side of Falling In Love Part I: Structure and Exchange Chapter 1: Fields, Features, and Filters: How Dating Applications Construct Sexual Fields and Romantic and Erotic Capital Chapter 2: “You have to synthesize yourself down to usually like a couple of sentences, a couple of pictures”: Forms of Capital and Their Assessment on Dating Apps Chapter 3: “Set Low Expectations About What You're Trying To Get Out Of It”: Exchange Structures, Costs, Benefits, and Evolutions Part II: Social Inequality Chapter 4: Too Smart for Tinder: Well-Educated Women, Gender Attitudes, and Dating Applications Chapter 5: “You’re 6’3” And A Lawyer, Put That Everywhere:” Hegemonic and Hybrid Masculinity On Dating Applications Chapter 6: “Swipe the Direction of Your Politics:” Experience of Conservative, Rural, and High-School Educated Dating App Users Conclusion Appendix: Data and Methods References About the Author

Reviews

""In this timely analysis, Regan explores 'the great paradox of dating apps,' that despite the access they provide, our online worlds constrain our imaginations in ways that reinforce persistent social inequalities. This book is an insightful read for anyone who wants to understand how dating apps shape (and limit) modern mate selection."" * Ellen Lamont, Appalachian State University *

""In this timely analysis, Regan explores 'the great paradox of dating apps,' that despite the access they provide, our online worlds constrain our imaginations in ways that reinforce persistent social inequalities. This book is an insightful read for anyone who wants to understand how dating apps shape (and limit) modern mate selection."" * Ellen Lamont, Appalachian State University * ""Hannah Regan's book elevates the study of dating apps by offering a richly researched topic that is theoretically sophisticated. Regan's Bordieuan analysis also traces the history of dating, personal ads, and dating apps and in doing so exposes the way capitalism has influenced dating historically and in the present. Her text also illustrates the ways in which dating apps reinforce hegemonic standards of beauty and social hierarchies. This important contribution to sociology is a must-read for practicing scholars and public at large!"" * Christopher T. Conner, University of Missouri-Columbia *

Author Information

Hannah Regan is the Associate Director for Research and Evaluation in the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women at Case Western Reserve University.

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