Before you log onto Facebook to check in with your honey, brace yourself for comments and pictures that might lead to addictive behavior as you pursue evidence of competition for your beloved’s affections.
Nevermind the perils of cyber-stalking, cyber-bullying and posting photos that might endanger your future job prospects: Facebook could be ruining your relationship and driving you toward compulsive jealous behavior.
The risk that a peek at Facebook could set in motion this cycle of events is suggested by a new survey of college students in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior. Social psychologists from the University of Guelph in Canada queried college students in romantic relationships about their Facebook use. The preliminary findings suggest that rather than enhancing communication, Facebook use may be fueling wild flights of jealous investigation, as users in relationships perceive hints of potential infidelity and then scramble to find evidence of a partner’s unfaithful thoughts or behavior.
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Invariably, it seems, they end up feeling more jealous.
And where does this lead? For some participants in the study, these investigations led to searching behavior they described as “addictive.” And bouts of escalating jealousy, say the researchers, cannot be good for a relationship.
Although the survey was of college students, the researchers surmised that Facebook might unleash similar dynamics in adult relationships. Certainly, they noted, it’s worth further research.
The team responsible for this survey previously found that young adults’ desire for popularity led them to disclose far more personal information on Facebook than they would reveal in the course of ordinary social contact.