As dating apps put relationship intentions at the center of how people assess potential matches, new ClarityCheck research reveals how often users deliberately leave those intentions open to interpretation — even while considering the same behavior misleading in others.
Dating profiles allow people to declare whether they want a serious relationship or something more casual before a conversation begins. Those declarations help potential matches assess compatibility early, often before they know much else about each other. But the expectation of clarity creates a competing incentive: being too specific about what someone wants can eliminate possibilities they would prefer to explore. New ClarityCheck research suggests that many daters respond by deliberately making their intentions harder to pin down.
ClarityCheck surveyed 9,700 adults across the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Latin America who had used a dating app within the past two years and had either listed or discussed their relationship goals with a match.
Nearly half acknowledged intentionally leaving room for interpretation. 47% said they had deliberately used more ambiguous language about their relationship intentions because they did not want to narrow their pool of potential matches. Their answers suggest that a stated preference can also serve as a way to manage access to potential partners, particularly when expressing a firm position might end a promising conversation.
The ambiguity was sometimes quite specific. 34% said they had told someone they were seeing where it goes, or used similarly open-ended language, even when they already knew casual dating was not what they wanted. Another 28% acknowledged describing their relationship goals differently depending on how interested they were in a particular match.
The adjustment could also involve overstating commitment. 22% admitted using more serious or future-oriented language than they genuinely felt because they believed it would appeal to someone seeking a committed relationship. These responses point to a recurring feature of dating-app communication: the description someone receives may be influenced by the recipient's perceived expectations.
Yet respondents were less accepting of deliberate ambiguity when evaluating someone else's behavior. 42% said they would consider it misleading if they discovered that another person had intentionally kept their relationship goals vague to preserve more dating options. Among that group, 30% acknowledged having done something similar themselves.
That overlap does not necessarily mean respondents excused their own behavior. They may also regard their past decisions as misleading. Still, it reveals a tension between behavior people recognize as potentially deceptive and the choices they make when their own romantic opportunities are at stake.
Misaligned expectations also persisted when intentions had been stated. 24% said they had continued seeing someone whose expressed relationship goals conflicted with their own because they hoped that person would eventually change their mind.
Meanwhile, 36% said they had entered a dating situation believing their intentions were broadly aligned with the other person's, only to discover weeks later that they were not. The finding does not establish that those mismatches resulted from deliberate deception, but it illustrates how uncertainty about relationship goals can survive beyond the initial conversations.
The findings expose a limitation of treating dating-profile intentions as dependable indicators of compatibility. People can consciously soften their preferences to preserve opportunities, adjust their descriptions for particular matches or continue pursuing someone despite an acknowledged difference in goals. For users trying to establish whether their expectations are shared, a clearly stated relationship goal may offer less certainty than its wording suggests.
About ClarityCheck
ClarityCheck is an all-in-one background verification tool for phone numbers, emails, and images. Designed for everyday digital safety, ClarityCheck helps users instantly identify unknown contacts, trace suspicious profiles, and check for potential fraud across phone, email, and photo input. By combining reverse lookup and OSINT technologies, it offers a streamlined way to verify identities and protect yourself online.
Media Contact
ClarityCheck
pr@claritycheck.com
Lauren Fellows
PR Manager
ClarityCheck surveyed 9,700 adults across the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Latin America who had used a dating app within the past two years and had either listed or discussed their relationship goals with a match.
Nearly half acknowledged intentionally leaving room for interpretation. 47% said they had deliberately used more ambiguous language about their relationship intentions because they did not want to narrow their pool of potential matches. Their answers suggest that a stated preference can also serve as a way to manage access to potential partners, particularly when expressing a firm position might end a promising conversation.
The ambiguity was sometimes quite specific. 34% said they had told someone they were seeing where it goes, or used similarly open-ended language, even when they already knew casual dating was not what they wanted. Another 28% acknowledged describing their relationship goals differently depending on how interested they were in a particular match.
The adjustment could also involve overstating commitment. 22% admitted using more serious or future-oriented language than they genuinely felt because they believed it would appeal to someone seeking a committed relationship. These responses point to a recurring feature of dating-app communication: the description someone receives may be influenced by the recipient's perceived expectations.
Yet respondents were less accepting of deliberate ambiguity when evaluating someone else's behavior. 42% said they would consider it misleading if they discovered that another person had intentionally kept their relationship goals vague to preserve more dating options. Among that group, 30% acknowledged having done something similar themselves.
That overlap does not necessarily mean respondents excused their own behavior. They may also regard their past decisions as misleading. Still, it reveals a tension between behavior people recognize as potentially deceptive and the choices they make when their own romantic opportunities are at stake.
Misaligned expectations also persisted when intentions had been stated. 24% said they had continued seeing someone whose expressed relationship goals conflicted with their own because they hoped that person would eventually change their mind.
Meanwhile, 36% said they had entered a dating situation believing their intentions were broadly aligned with the other person's, only to discover weeks later that they were not. The finding does not establish that those mismatches resulted from deliberate deception, but it illustrates how uncertainty about relationship goals can survive beyond the initial conversations.
The findings expose a limitation of treating dating-profile intentions as dependable indicators of compatibility. People can consciously soften their preferences to preserve opportunities, adjust their descriptions for particular matches or continue pursuing someone despite an acknowledged difference in goals. For users trying to establish whether their expectations are shared, a clearly stated relationship goal may offer less certainty than its wording suggests.
About ClarityCheck
ClarityCheck is an all-in-one background verification tool for phone numbers, emails, and images. Designed for everyday digital safety, ClarityCheck helps users instantly identify unknown contacts, trace suspicious profiles, and check for potential fraud across phone, email, and photo input. By combining reverse lookup and OSINT technologies, it offers a streamlined way to verify identities and protect yourself online.
Media Contact
ClarityCheck
pr@claritycheck.com
Lauren Fellows
PR Manager