Very little is known about viewers’ attitudes toward sexualized portrayals of men on social media platforms. Using an experimental methodology, the present study investigated the effect of a sexualized versus non-sexualized Tinder profile of a young White man on college students’ perceptions of the profile owner. The impact of multiple aspects of sexualization including a self-sexualizing self-description on one’s profile (i.e., interested in casual sex) as well as a sexualizing appearance (i.e., muscular and shirtless) were investigated. U.S. college students (N = 567) viewed a mock Tinder profile and then rated the target’s competence, social appeal, physical attractiveness, and likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate a young White man with a sexualized self-presentation on a dating app may be perceived as less competent and as a sexual risk-taker. These results contribute to the small body of research documenting the impact of self-sexualization on a dating app profile.

关于观众对社交媒体平台上男性性感形象的态度知之甚少。本研究使用实验方法，调查了一名年轻白人男性的性化与非性化 Tinder 个人资料对大学生对个人资料所有者的看法的影响。研究了性化的多个方面的影响，包括对个人资料的自我性化自我描述（即对随意性行为感兴趣）以及性化外表（即肌肉发达和光着膀子）。美国大学生（N= 567）查看了一个模拟的 Tinder 个人资料，然后对目标的能力、社会吸引力、身体吸引力以及从事危险性行为的可能性进行了评分。调查结果表明，在约会应用程序上进行性感自我展示的年轻白人男性可能被认为能力较差，并且是性冒险者。这些结果有助于一小部分研究记录自我性化对约会应用程序配置文件的影响。