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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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Ever feel like scrolling on Tinder gets repetitive? And you keep seeing the same kinds of photos over and over? A new study suggests there is a reason behind this, that being that many users unintentionally rely on a small set of familiar “visual strategies” designed to be appealing, rather than unique.
Researchers from Spain's Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) analyzed 1,000 real Tinder profiles in the Barcelona area and found that profile pictures tend to fall into nine repeating patterns.
Led by psychologist Alejandro García Alamán, the investigation combined psychological coding with data analysis and machine-learning techniques.
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García Alamán said the project was prompted by what he was hearing from patients: “a growing unease among users of dating apps, similar to burnout at work,” fueled by “disappointment, boredom and depersonalization” because profiles looked so similar.
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The researchers stress the clusters describe presentation styles and not “types of people.” Using visual-variable coding and clustering, they identified nine photo patterns that show up consistently across profiles.
Here they are, listed from most to least common.
1. Half-Length Portrait, Facing the Camera
The most frequent strategy—nearly a quarter of profiles—was a half-length portrait with the person dressed, looking directly at the camera, often in an urban or home setting.
The authors describe it as the most neutral and socially acceptable choice.
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2. Looking Away
The second pattern features people looking off in a different direction, which can read as more spontaneous and informal.
The body may be shown partially or fully, and the pose can create a sense of distance.
3. Close-up of the Face
This cluster centers on facial close-ups, usually with the person looking at the camera.
These photos are often taken indoors and the tighter framing puts emphasis on facial detail.
4. Full-Length Portrait, Facing the Camera
Here, the full body is shown, typically with the person dressed and looking straight at the camera.
The study found this approach was especially common among heterosexual women.
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5. Sunglasses
Sunglasses appeared so consistently that they formed their own category.
The authors suggest they can function as a form of protection—offering partial concealment while still presenting a recognizable image.
6. Surrounded by Nature
Photos in outdoor natural settings—mountains, forests and similar landscapes—made up another recurring style.
The researchers say it is especially common among heterosexual men and tends to signal activity, health and connection with nature.
7. High Nudity or Semi-Nudity
About 7 percent of users fell into this category, where the body plays a clear role, often in domestic or beach settings.
8. No Person Shown (Landscapes, Objects, Neutral Backgrounds)
In this pattern, users choose not to show themselves at all, instead using scenery, objects or plain backdrops.
The study found this strategy increases with age.
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9. Body Parts Without the Face
The least frequent cluster—around 3 percent—uses images of parts of the body while keeping the face out of frame.
The authors describe it as the most extreme form of body exposure in the classification.
What Shapes These Choices—and Why It Can Feel Repetitive
The researchers argue these strategies may reflect “who we think we should be in order to be liked,” rather than who we are.
“Choosing a strategy based on social desirability strips us of authenticity and blurs our identity as individuals,” García Alamán said in a statement, adding: “It protects us, but at the same time it stereotypes us.”
Age had the strongest predictive weight in the study, with younger users showing more exposure and older groups moving toward concealment—through sunglasses, close-ups, partial-body images, and, from around age 50, profiles without body photos.
Gender and sexual orientation also played a role: among heterosexual users, women tended to smile more and show more of their bodies, while men appeared more action- or nature-oriented and showed less.
The study also reported that lesbian women showed less of their bodies than heterosexual women, while gay men were more likely to look at the camera and smile more than heterosexual men.
Using a computer system to encode visual variables and group images with a minimum-distance classification approach, the researchers reported that only around 10 percent of users had pictures with a substantial degree of nudity.
García Alamán said that may be lower than expected given Tinder’s reputation, but argued “that’s not what Tinder is,” describing it as more “multi-purpose,” and noting users may avoid explicit images because profiles can be removed if they are too revealing.
The team said understanding these conventions can help users feel less pressure: “your profile should not define you, nor should the app affect your self-esteem,” García Alamán said.
He added that it can help to remember the first person who has to like a profile picture is you—and that it is OK to deviate from the crowd to be more authentic.
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Reference
García-Alamán, A., Blanco-Cuaresma, S., & Montesano, A. (2025). Stereotypical love: A cluster analysis of self-presentation strategies in tinder profile pictures. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 22(11), 2082–2095. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdaf245
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