Dating applications such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge are now used by millions of people worldwide. As users can construct any version of the...

Dating applications such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge are now used by millions of people worldwide. As users can construct any version of themselves they wish, one might expect them to present themselves in the most favourable light possible. When creating a profile, it would be natural for them to choose flattering photographs, compose polished and appealing descriptions, and (18) __________ so as to appear more confident, witty and emotionally mature than they are in everyday life. Yet according to recent research, this is not generally what happens. Far from inventing idealised versions of themselves, many users’ profiles reveal their genuine dispositions, and often expose both personal insecurities and ordinary behavioural flaws.

Research was carried out on 280 dating-app users who completed a detailed personality inventory. The results were then compared with the same people’s profiles on major dating platforms. The study aimed to assess not only the participants’ actual personalities, but their “ideal romantic selves” — in other words, (19) __________. These results were then compared with the participants’ dating profiles. What emerged was unexpected: far from being carefully manufactured projections of who they wished to be, (20) __________. Their profiles closely reflected how open, conscientious, sociable and emotionally stable they were in real life.

(21) __________. It may be that users want to present themselves as they truly are, or it may be that they attempt to project a more attractive image of themselves but fail to do so convincingly. One conclusion, however, seems difficult to avoid: dating apps should not simply be seen as deceptive spaces cut off from reality; rather, they are merely another way (22) __________.

Question 18:

A. by phrasing their thoughts carefully        B. when their thoughts are carefully phrased

C. a careful phrasing of their thoughts        D. carefully phrase their thoughts

Question 19:

A. what kind of partner they would be if they possessed all the qualities they most admired

B. whether they would be regarded as possessing all the qualities admired by an ideal partner

C. how their ideal qualities would be possessed if they became the partner they imagined

D. what sort of partner would be possessed by them if all ideal qualities were present

Question 20:

A. what users were actually like was closely resembled by their profiles

B. users tended quite closely to resemble what was described in their profiles

C. users’ profiles resembled quite closely what they were actually like

D. users were inclined to resemble closely the description made in their profiles

Question 21:

A. The extent to which dating profiles mirror users’ personalities is obvious in its reasons

B. Dating profiles obviously mirror users’ personalities, although the reason remains entirely unclear

C. Users’ personalities are mirrored by dating profiles for reasons that are entirely obvious

D. It is not entirely obvious why dating profiles mirror users’ personalities as closely as they do

Question 22:

A. for people choosing to form impressions of one another

B. in which people choose to relate to one another

C. people choose to relate to one another in

D. by which people’s choices relate them to one another