Rachel Vanderbilt, PhD's Avatar

Rachel Vanderbilt, PhD

@rachelvanderbilt

Ph.D. in Interpersonal Communication, researching conflict in romantic relationships Lead UX Researcher, Labs at Hinge #commsky #altac #ux #product www.rachelvanderbilt.com

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17.08.2024
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Latest posts by Rachel Vanderbilt, PhD @rachelvanderbilt

It has been a joy to work on this report, and I am so proud of the end result!

To learn more about the tension between Gen Z’s deep desire for closeness alongside their hesitation to create it, download the full report on the Hinge newsroom!

26.11.2025 15:13 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

🫣 48% of Gen Z men hold back from emotional intimacy because they don’t want to seem ‘too much.’

26.11.2025 15:13 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

😩 42% of straight Gen Z women feel like the men they date don’t want to have deep conversations on the first few dates; 
however, 65% of straight Gen Z men say they do!

26.11.2025 15:13 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

💕 84% of Gen Z Hinge daters want to find new ways to build deeper connections with the people they’re dating.

26.11.2025 15:13 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

In this report, we explored how gendered expectations shape the ways we show up in dating today, resulting in challenges to being authentic and building connection. Through surveying over 30,000 Hinge daters, we found:

26.11.2025 15:13 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Hinge’s New D.A.T.E. Report: How Gen Z Daters Can Close The Communication Gap in 2026 Hinge releases its second annual Gen Z D.A.T.E. (Data, Advice, Trends, and Expertise) Report: “Closing The Communication Gap,” a new research-backed resource created to help Gen Z daters match their d...

So excited to share the release of Hinge's 2025 Gen Z D.A.T.E. (Data, Advice, Trends, and Expertise) Report, Closing the Communication Gap! 🫶🏻

hinge.co/newsroom/202...

26.11.2025 15:13 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I’m not ready to lose TikTok tomorrow 😭

18.01.2025 13:57 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thank you!!! It has been such an incredible way for me to connect with people - I really do hope it stays ❤️

10.01.2025 23:59 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Congratulations, Roxanne!!! 🎉 As a @ucf.bsky.social alum, I’m particularly thrilled for you 🙌🏻💕

26.12.2024 17:24 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

boss: you know what’s weird

me: how the flintstones celebrate christmas even tho they live in 10,000 b.c?

boss: how the flin— yes exactly

24.12.2024 15:50 👍 7604 🔁 1120 💬 42 📌 24

🫶🫶🫶

03.12.2024 18:30 👍 9 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Differences Between Lifelong Singles and Ever-Partnered Individuals in Big Five Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction - Julia Stern, Michael D. Krämer, Alexander Schumacher, Geoff MacDonald, David ... Being romantically partnered is widely seen as a societal norm, and it has been shown to be positively associated with important life outcomes, such as physical...

Are singles with the least lifetime involvement in romantic relationships "single at heart" and therefore with the best well-being outcomes? Our new paper in Psychological Science suggests, on average, no (N = 77,064, mainly ≥ 50 years, 27 countries). journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

25.11.2024 20:53 👍 20 🔁 4 💬 2 📌 2
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New article! (Young et al., 2024)
#Onlinefirst This study used cubic polynomial regression and response surface analysis to examine how mate value discrepancies (self vs. partner perceptions) relate to mate retention behaviors.

22.11.2024 22:26 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

Would love to meet with you at NCA if you have any questions about JACR. Meet the Editors is now at NCA Scholar Office hours. Friday at 2:30 in Marriott Grand Salon.
#NCA

22.11.2024 14:01 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1

Hello to all of the new #socialpsychology, #psychology, and #familysci folks! We are an international and interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that publishes research on social and personal relationships. If you're interested in learning the latest news in relationship science, give us a follow!

20.11.2024 11:38 👍 12 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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On Sunday at 11am, Denise Solomon (Penn State) will be sharing our longitudinal exploration of relational turbulence and serial arguments on behalf of myself, Yuwei Li & Kellie Brisini (LSU)!

19.11.2024 14:52 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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On Friday at 4pm, my collaborators Yifei Lu and Mimi Brinberg (Ohio State) will be presenting our research exploring how attachment style impacts language use in text messages for daters in the first year of their relationship!

19.11.2024 14:52 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I am so envious of everyone going to #NCA24 this year! #commsky

If you are interested, here are the two presentations where my collaborators will be sharing our research 🧵:

19.11.2024 14:52 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

If you read this far, thank you! I am looking forward to connecting with folks in Communication, Relationship Science, UX research and beyond 😁

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Tomorrow, I start my first day at Hinge where I will be a Lead UX Researcher on the Labs team! I am really, really excited to bring my relationship science expertise to a product org 💖

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Ive spent the last 2 years at a digital experience consulting firm called WillowTree as a Sr. Product Researcher - I helped companies strategize their digital solutions based on the needs of their consumers.

In the last six months, I helped shape WTs consumer insights research program!

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I started my TikTok account in January of 2021 where I post relationship advice content rooted in science and research - it’s helped me learn how to be a more accessible scientist!

Through making TikTok’s, I was offered the Relationship Doctor podcast host position, which I held & loved for a year

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I took that as an opportunity to finish and defend my dissertation!

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I left my PhD program before finishing my degree to take a job as a UX researcher at Ashley Furniture where I was running the A/B testing program

After four months, we were sent to work from home indefinitely as we navigated COVID. My 1-year olds daycare was shut down.

It was a disaster.

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I have really enjoyed reading people’s introduction posts, so I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about myself! 🧵

I am a former academic turned Product Researcher

I got my PhD in Communication and my research focuses on conflict in romantic relationships and am still active in my field

17.11.2024 22:33 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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Public Trust in Scientists and Views on Their Role in Policymaking Americans’ trust in scientists is slightly higher than it was last year, but remains lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Majorities view research scientists as intelligent (89%) and focused on solving real-world problems (65%). Communication is seen as an area of relative weakness for scientists. Big partisan differences on trust.
www.pewresearch.org/science/2024...

17.11.2024 18:32 👍 83 🔁 21 💬 8 📌 1

I’ve loved seeing all of the #commsky lists and folks in my inbox today - has anyone started an interpersonal comm or relationship science starter pack? 💖

16.11.2024 16:12 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

That would be so great! Thank you 😁

16.11.2024 14:11 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Oh and it’s active - I love to see it!

16.11.2024 13:42 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0