Predatory Behavior on Dating Apps: How Narcissistic Traits Drive Exploitation — And How Bystanders Become Part of the Problem

Financial Predatory Behavior of Dating AppsThe rise of dating apps has transformed the landscape of modern romance, but it has also introduced various financial predatory behaviors that can lead to significant financial strain for users. Below are some key aspects of this issue:1. Subscription ModelsMany dating apps operate on a subscription model, where users are encouraged to pay for premium features. These features often promise better matches, increased visibility, or enhanced communication tools, which can create a sense of urgency and dependency.2. In-App PurchasesIn addition to subscriptions, dating apps frequently offer in-app purchases for features like boosts, super likes, or the ability to see who liked you. This can lead to users spending more than they initially intended, contributing to financial strain.3. Emotional ManipulationSome dating apps employ tactics that exploit users’ emotional vulnerabilities. For example, they may highlight the success stories of couples who met through the app, creating a fear of missing out (FOMO) that drives users to spend more money in hopes of finding love.4. Hidden FeesUsers may encounter hidden fees that are not clearly disclosed upfront. This lack of transparency can lead to unexpected charges, further exacerbating financial difficulties for individuals already struggling.5. Data Privacy ConcernsMany dating apps collect personal data that can be sold to third parties. This can lead to targeted advertisements and offers that pressure users into spending money on unnecessary services or products.ConclusionThe contrast between the financial struggles of some users and the carefree enjoyment of others highlights a significant issue within the dating app industry. As these platforms continue to grow, it is essential for users to remain aware of the potential financial pitfalls associated with their use.

Predatory Behavior on Dating Apps: The Narcissistic Architecture of Exploitation

People don’t join apps like Feeld because they want to be destroyed. Most join because they’re lonely, curious, trying to rebuild confidence, or attempting to heal parts of themselves others fractured. They show up open—sometimes too open—because they long for connection, validation, or the feeling of being seen again.

But apps don’t just attract people searching for connection.They attract people searching for targets.

Dating apps—particularly sexually exploratory ones—have become prime hunting grounds for individuals exhibiting narcissistic, manipulative, or predatory personality traits. These individuals exploit insecurity, trauma, and attachment wounds with precision, leaving emotional wreckage behind them.

And here’s the reality the research makes painfully clear:Narcissistic traits strongly correlate with sexual manipulation, coercion, and emotional exploitation online.

This article details not only how narcissistic predators operate on apps like Feeld, but also how the people around them—their friends, their enablers, their silent witnesses—become part of the ecosystem that allows sexual predation to thrive.

Dating Apps as an Environment for Predation

Dating apps provide the ideal conditions for exploitation: anonymity, rapid intimacy, sexual availability, and low accountability. Research by Filice et al. (2022) shows that technology-facilitated sexual violence, coercion, and manipulation are now common harms associated with dating-app interactions, particularly affecting trauma-exposed or insecure individuals.

Gunnoo et al. (2025) found that individuals high in narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism are significantly more likely to use online environments to manipulate, coerce, or exploit partners. These individuals take advantage of users who demonstrate insecurity, open emotional expression, or attachment vulnerability.

Feeld specifically has been linked to risks as well.The Guardian (2024) reported security vulnerabilities exposing users’ private photos and intimate data—information that could be exploited for sextortion or emotional control. Fortbridge’s 2024 technical analysis confirmed these vulnerabilities.

AARP (2021) documented an alarming rise in sextortion targeting LGBTQ+ users, explicitly identifying Feeld as one of the platforms where exploitation is active.

The Australian Institute of Criminology (2024) found that predators on dating apps often target those with trauma histories or emotional insecurity because such individuals show predictable emotional patterns that are easier to manipulate.

Dating apps don’t create predators—they unleash them.

Narcissistic Traits as Drivers of Predatory Sexual Behavior

1. Dehumanization and Objectification

Narcissistic individuals often view romantic or sexual partners as tools for ego enhancement rather than as autonomous humans (Campbell & Miller, 2011). In this mindset, vulnerable users become resources, not people.

2. Targeting Vulnerability

Narcissists actively seek partners who exhibit insecurity, trauma histories, or anxious attachment. Gunnoo et al. (2025) described this as selective vulnerability exploitation—a calculated selection of targets who are easier to control.

3. Love-Bombing and Withdrawal

Narcissistic grooming follows a predictable pattern: intense attention, emotional flooding, rapid intimacy, sexual escalation, followed by sudden withdrawal. This intermittent reinforcement creates dependency and trauma bonding (Filice et al., 2022).

4. Eroticized Power and Control

For narcissists, sex is not intimacy—it is leverage. It becomes a tool to dominate, destabilize, or reward compliance, consistent with research linking narcissism to sexually coercive behavior (Widman & McNulty, 2010).

5. Endless Supply, Zero Accountability

Dating apps grant narcissists infinite access to new victims. The University of Edinburgh (2025) noted that offenders often rely on social anonymity and the disposability of online connections to maintain predatory behavior.

The Human Damage Narcissistic Predators Inflict

Predators don’t just “break hearts.”They inflict psychological, neurological, and emotional trauma, often reviving wounds that took years to stabilize.

1. Trauma Reactivation

Manipulative patterns often mirror old attachment wounds, triggering panic, shame, hypervigilance, or dissociation.

2. Neurochemical Chaos

The cycle of attention and withdrawal triggers dopamine, cortisol, and adrenaline spikes similar to addiction. Victims become chemically bonded to their abuser.

3. Self-Erosion

Victims begin doubting their intuition, worth, and identity. They internalize blame and shame.

4. Regression of Healing

A single predatory interaction can undo years of therapy, rebuilding, and emotional stabilization.

A narcissistic predator doesn’t just take advantage—they rewound the clock on someone’s healing.

Complicity: When You Keep Predators in Your Life, You Become Part of the System Hurting People

Most people want to believe they’re not involved.They think:

• “It’s not my business.”

• “He’s just bad at dating.”

• “She’s just chaotic.”

• “They’re adults—it’s complicated.”

  
  

Wrong.

If someone in your life is using dating apps to exploit insecure, traumatized, or emotionally vulnerable people—and you say nothing, do nothing, and stay close—you are contributing to sexual predation.

1. Silence Enables Abuse

Bystander research shows that silence is interpreted as approval.Edwards et al. (2019) found that failing to intervene communicates permissiveness to perpetrators.

You don’t have to help them commit harm to help them continue harm.

2. Social Networks Shield Predators

Predators rely on their social circles to provide credibility and protection. Banyard et al. (2010) demonstrated that peer norms and social acceptance significantly predict whether abusive behavior continues.

When you remain close to a predator, you become part of their protective camouflage.

3. Victims Interpret Your Loyalty as Validation of the Predator

Victims often wonder:

• “How is this person surrounded by friends?”

• “Why does no one call this out?”

• “Am I overreacting?”

Your presence becomes a tool of their self-doubt.

4. Your Tolerance Says Something About You

People who keep predators close usually do so because of:

• cowardice

• conflict avoidance

• shared values

• or because they see parts of themselves reflected

Bandura (1999) found that moral disengagement allows individuals to justify harmful inaction and detach from the consequences of their silence.

Breaking the Cycle of Complicity

If you truly don’t want to help predators continue harming people:

• Don’t minimize red flags.

• Don’t socially normalize exploitation.

• Don’t provide emotional cover.

• Don’t remain silent.

• Don’t stay close to people who intentionally hurt others.

• Don’t pretend you “don’t know” what they’re doing.

Predators collapse when their networks collapse.Cutting off complicity is the first real form of prevention.

References

AARP. (2021). Sextortion scams plague LGBTQ+ dating apps. AARP.

Australian Institute of Criminology. (2024). Risk factors for receiving requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation on dating apps and websites.

Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209.

Banyard, V. L., Plante, E. G., & Moynihan, M. M. (2010). Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(6), 761–774.

Campbell, W. K., & Miller, J. D. (2011). The handbook of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder: Theoretical approaches, empirical findings, and treatments. Wiley.

Edwards, K. M., Rodenhizer, K. A., & Eckstein, R. P. (2019). Bystander action in situations of dating and sexual aggression: A mixed methodological study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(7), 1307–1332.

Filice, E., et al. (2022). Sexual violence and abuse in online dating: A scoping review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 64, 101753.

Fortbridge. (2024). Feeld app vulnerability analysis and penetration test report.

Gunnoo, V., et al. (2025). The dark triad, dating app use, and online disinhibition in technology-facilitated sexual violence. Journal of Interpersonal Cyberbehavior, 12(1), 44–59.

The Guardian. (2024). Users of ‘throuples’ dating app Feeld may have had intimate photos accessed.

University of Edinburgh. (2025). Online dating exploitation: Vulnerabilities and offender targeting strategies.

Widman, L., & McNulty, J. K. (2010). Sexual narcissism and the perpetration of sexual aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(3), 393–404.