Romantic relationship management on Facebook: implications for digital jealousy, social compensation, and social enhancement
Theresa Hofmann, Julian Unkel, Andreas Fahr
Abstract:
With almost two-thirds of its users acknowledging that Social Network Sites (SNS) like
Facebook play an integral part in their everyday lives (Kneidinger, 2010), there is no doubt that the SNS is shaping the way we communicate with and manage our social, as well as our romantic, relationships. Facebook provides us with ample opportunities for romantic relationship management, from declaring one’s own relationship status in the profile, leaving expressions of love on the partner’s timeline, and uploading shared photo albums, to observing the partner’s profile or even “facestalking” objects of infatuation. The study deals with the causes and implications of observing other people’s profiles in relation to romantic relationship management, namely digital jealousy, social compensation, and social enhancement. Jealousy, defined as “a state that is aroused by a perceived threat to a valued relationship or position and motivates behavior aimed at countering the threat” (Daly, Wilson & Weghorst, 1982), may have serious repercussions for romantic relationships, whether the experienced jealousy is justified or not. Facebook may trigger digital jealousy not only by giving anonymous and comfortable access to information not obtainable in the non-virtual world, but also by offering ambiguous information out of context. As the extent of jealous reactions and behaviors shows inter-individual differences, we ask which factors--gender, Facebook use, relationship quality, and personality--determine digital jealousy on Facebook.
Observance of other people’s romantic relationships portrayed on their Facebook profiles might lead not only to digital jealousy but also to positive effects. Two explanations for why people turn to SNS in favor of face-to-face communication offer the opposing hypotheses of social compensation and social enhancement. While social compensation proposes that people compensate for a lack of off-line communication with on-line communication, social enhancement argues that they enhance their existing social relationships via SNS. In our study, we expand those two hypotheses into on-line romantic relationship management, and we ask if--and if yes, by whom--Facebook is used for social compensation and/or enhancement of romantic relationships. Between December 2011 and January 2012, we conducted a quantitative on-line survey among Facebook users, with a total of 784 utilizable questionnaires completed. Concerning digital jealousy, our study shows that monitorial behaviour of one’s partner is quite common on Facebook. Trait jealousy was identified as the strongest predictor of digital jealousy. Women monitor their partners’ Facebook activities significantly more often than men do. Such behavior is also positively correlated with the intensity of Facebook usage as well as with the extent of relationship communication on
Facebook, and it is negatively correlated with relationship duration and quality. As for positive effects of romantic relationship observation, our sample neglects the idea of social enhancement of romantic relationships on Facebook. Approximately 10 percent acknowledge social compensation behavior. Results show that people who engage in romantic relationship compensation on Facebook score higher on anxiousness, shyness, trait as well as digital jealousy, and the extent of relationship communication. Conclusions, limitations, and prospects for future research will be discussed.