BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Health Communication
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Inclusive Sexual Health: Education and Empowerment for LGBTQIA+ and Minority CommunitiesView all articles
Swiping for Connection: Tribe Identity and Sexual Health Among Sexual Minority Men Who Use Dating Apps
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of New Haven, West Haven, United States
- 2New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, United States
- 3Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, United States
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background Dating applications, or "dating apps," are widely used by sexual minority men (SMM) to form social and sexual connections. These platforms support intimacy, identity expression, and community engagement but have also been linked to sexual health risks and psychological distress. Although research on dating app use is growing, studies remain limited. This study examines dating app use, tribe identity, and sexual health behaviors in a sample of U.S. SMM. Methods A total of 549 gay and bisexual men aged 18–50 years completed an online survey and were recruited via Qualtrics Survey Panels, assessing dating app use, tribe identity, sexual activity, condom use, and awareness and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Descriptive statistics explored patterns of digital engagement, identity expression, and sexual health behaviors. Results Most participants (69.4%) reported using dating apps, primarily for casual sex (46.3%). Among sexually active participants, 39.9% did not use condoms during their last sexual encounter. Only 17.8% of those aware of PrEP were currently using it, and 33.5% had never heard of it. Tribe identity was diverse but not universal; 32.1% reported no affiliation, while others identified with groups such as "Clean-cut," "Bear," and "Jock," revealing potential links to appearance-based norms and sexual decision-making. Conclusions Dating app use may influence both health behaviors and digital communication patterns among sexual minority men. Our findings underscore the need for inclusive, culturally responsive interventions that address gaps in sexual health knowledge while also considering how digital discourse and platform design shape communication, perception, and engagement.
Keywords: dating apps, sexual minority men, tribe identity, sexual health behaviors, LGBTQ+ health, PrEP awareness
Received: 10 Aug 2025; Accepted: 24 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mathew, Zhao and Tran. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alvin Tran, atran@newhaven.edu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.