Love online: How relationship awareness on Facebook relates to relationship quality among college students.

Abstract

Recent literature has provided evidence that online behaviors may be a manifestation of off-line cognitions; furthermore online self-presentations may shape off-line outcomes. The present study examined the associations between the individual difference variable of authenticity (measured via relationship and dispositional authenticity), relationship awareness on Facebook (conveyed through posting one's relationship status as being "in a relationship," displaying a "partnered" relationship status, posting pictures with one's partner, and posting status updates including or about one's partner), and overall relationship quality among college students. Furthermore, relationship awareness on Facebook was explored as a possible mediator of the relationship between authenticity and relationship quality. After controlling for dispositional authenticity, we found a direct relationship between relationship authenticity and relationship quality such that individuals who demonstrated a higher degree of relationship authenticity tended to report higher levels of relationship quality. In addition, results revealed an indirect effect of relationship authenticity on relationship quality through relationship awareness. Our findings suggest that those high in relationship authenticity may be more intrinsically motivated to express themselves as part of a couple on Facebook, which in turn may affect their global relationship functioning. This study offers a method of studying relationship awareness in an online context.

The Big 5 and relationship maintenance on Facebook

“…That is, they share more potentially embarrassing relationship information online than they normally do off-line, with this online sharing taking the form of comments or photographs. Because these displays are unusual, they may better represent mate retention tactics than the displays examined by Saslow et al (2013), which are commonplace among satisfied couples (e.g., Emery, Muise, Alpert, & Le, 2015; Steers, Øverup, Brunson, & Acitelli, 2016). Moreover, public relationship displays are only one way Facebook is involved in romantic relationships.…”

The use of Facebook in romantic relationships: An actor-partner interdependence mediation model predicting relationship visibility

“…An examination of the current literature confirmed that transient forms of relationship visibility have not received as much attention in research compared to more enduring forms (Cole et al, 2018). Yet, in this study, both enduring and transient forms of actual relationship visibility were examined and, to reduce the common method variance, daily postings were measured by gathering data directly from individuals’ Facebook accounts (Steers et al, 2016).…”

“…Recent literature has provided evidence that Facebook self-presentations may shape off-line outcomes and that online behaviors may be an expression of off-line cognitions or emotions (Nadkarni & Hofmann, 2012; Saslow et al, 2012; Steers et al, 2016). In the context of intimate relationships, these studies have investigated associations between Facebook self-presentations of coupledom (which is referred to as relationship visibility) and many relational outcomes, such as love, relationship longevity, quality, or commitment (Lane et al, 2016).…”

“…In the context of intimate relationships, these studies have investigated associations between Facebook self-presentations of coupledom (which is referred to as relationship visibility) and many relational outcomes, such as love, relationship longevity, quality, or commitment (Lane et al, 2016). However, while many studies explored how relationship visibility predicts relational outcomes (Cole et al, 2018; Hand et al, 2013; Orosz et al, 2015; Papp et al, 2012; Steers et al, 2016; Toma & Choi, 2015), few studies examined how relational characteristics predict relationship visibility (see Lane et al, 2016; Northrup & Smith, 2016; Saslow et al, 2012 for exceptions), even though many researchers acknowledge that the nature of the relationship between the two variables is still uncertain or likely bidirectional (e.g., Orosz et al, 2015; Papp et al, 2012; Rus & Tiemensma, 2017). Furthermore, most studies investigated these relational processes with individuals, mostly students, instead of couples (but see Northrup & Smith, 2016 and Papp et al, 2012 for exceptions).…”

Include me in your Facebook : relationship awareness on Facebook influences romantic partners’ relationship satisfaction and perceived partner commitment

“…Past research has prioritized two major forms of relationship awareness-relationship thinking and talking (Acitelli, 1996(Acitelli, , 2002-which both have positive associations with relationship well-being. For example, studies have shown that when an individual in a romantic relationship frequently thinks and talks about his/her relationship, it makes the partner more content (Acitelli, 1993) and helps to build a quality relationship (Steers, Øverup, Brunson, & Acitelli, 2016;Tan, Overall, & Taylor, 2012).…”