Cultural-Psychological Differences, Social Acceptance of Same-Sex Relationships, and Dating App Use Motives of Young GBMSM: A Comparative Study Across Hong Kong, Taipei, and Osaka

Figures & data

Table 1. Survey participants’ background information.

	Hong Kong (n = 217)		Taipei (n = 330)		Osaka (n = 175)
	%	M (SD)	%	M (SD)	%	M (SD)
Age		26.39 (4.32)		27.72 (3.71)		27.88 (4.02)
Education
High school or below	36.41		10.91		31.43
Bachelor’s degree	55.30		62.42		53.71
Graduate school	8.29		26.67		14.86
Relationship status
Single	68.20		64.24		63.43
Close relationship	20.74		23.03		32.00
Open relationship	11.06		12.73		4.57
Sexual orientation
Gay	81.11		87.58		90.86
Bisexual	18.89		12.42		9.14
Gay app log-on frequency (range: 1–6)^a		4.29 (1.84)		4.30 (1.76)		4.21 (1.71)

^a1 = less than once a week, 2 = once a week, 3 = 2–3 times a week, 4 = 4–6 times a week, 5 = once a day, 6 = several times a day.

Table 2. Means and standard deviations of major variables.

	M (SD)
	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka
Motives for using gay dating apps
Love	3.66 (0.81)	3.91 (0.89)	3.57 (1.00)
Casual sex	3.76 (0.88)	3.74 (0.98)	3.31 (0.97)
Ease of communication	3.44 (0.72)	3.47 (0.77)	2.96 (1.01)
Self-worth validation	2.83 (0.94)	2.96 (0.97)	2.63 (1.27)
Thrill of excitement	3.22 (0.99)	3.09 (1.14)	3.31 (1.23)
Trendiness	2.74 (0.87)	2.93 (0.89)	2.61 (1.00)
Individual predictors
Sensation seeking	3.15 (0.87)	3.18 (0.89)	2.90 (0.99)
Communication apprehension	2.90 (0.79)	3.04 (0.83)	3.04 (0.87)
Perceived societal acceptance of  same-sex relationships	3.21 (0.82)	3.53 (0.77)	2.84 (0.79)

Table 3. Regression of motives on sensation-seeking, communication apprehension, and perceived social acceptance.

	Love			Casual sex			Ease of communication
	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka
Age	.01	−.01	−.05*	.01	.02	−.00	.01	.03*	−.06***
Sexual orientation (Ref: Gay)
Bisexual	.02	−.04	−.27	.08	−.19	−.09	.39**	.19	−.08
Education (Ref: High school)
Bachelor’s degree	.02	−.04	.09	.02	−.25	.09	−.19	−.16	−.28
Graduate school	.01	−.14	.19	−.18	−.22	.03	−.13	−.30	−.61**
Relationship status (Ref: Single)
Close relationship	−.35*	−.10	−.43*	−.09	.21	−.21	.11	.22*	−.20
Open relationship	−.42*	−.58***	.24	.53**	.75***	.01	.05	.27*	.05
Gay app logon frequency	.04	.11***	.06	.12***	.12***	.02	.01	.07**	−.04
Sensation-seeking	.07	−.08	.04	.11	.18**	.30***	.06	.00	.16*
Communication apprehension	−.03	.03	−.02	−.03	.04	−.01	.27***	.20***	.24**
Perceived social acceptance of same-sex relationships	.13*	.09	−.05	.10	.15*	−.10	−.13*	−.03	−.18*
F	1.97*	4.07***	2.04*	3.18***	5.52***	2.28*	3.62***	3.13***	5.65***
R^2	.09	.11	.11	.13	.15	.12	.15	.09	.26
Adjusted R^2	.04	.09	.06	.09	.12	.07	.11	.06	.21
	Self-worth validation			Thrill of excitement			Trendiness
	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka	Hong Kong	Taipei	Osaka
Age	−.04*	−.00	−.08***	.01	.01	−.04	−.01	.04**	−.04*
Sexual orientation (Ref: Gay)
Bisexual	.27	.06	−.71*	.27	.14	−.48	.27	.05	−.17
Education (Ref: High school)
Bachelor’s degree	.18	−.31	−.09	−.19	−.35	−.29	.04	−.27	−.11
Graduate school	.22	−.35	−.75**	.10	−.27	−.23	.02	−.40*	−.51*
Relationship status (Ref: Single)
Close relationship	.12	.32*	−.29	.17	.37*	−.21	−.06	.04	−.21
Open relationship	.10	.38*	.40	.31	.46*	.42	−.06	.04	−.17
Gay app logon frequency	−.02	.11***	−.02	.07	.04	.04	.04	.04	−.01
Sensation-seeking	.04	.15*	.24**	.13	.30***	.41***	.04	.08	.08
Communication apprehension	.08	.09	.08	.12	.20*	.06	−.04	.06	−.05
Perceived social acceptance of same-sex relationships	−.10	−.10	−.34**	.08	−.10	−.24*	.02	−.17**	−.14
F	1.51	3.18***	6.80***	1.25	3.42***	4.05***	0.68	2.27*	2.69**
R^2	.07	.09	.29	.06	.10	.20	.03	.07	.14
Adjusted R^2	.02	.06	.25	.01	.07	.15	−.02	.04	.09

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.