Romantic alternatives are potential partners with whom one keeps in touch with the prospect of starting a future relationship. Alternative can be understood as a ‘relationship insurance’. It is no surprise that over engagement with online friends and pursuing alternative partners can threaten the primary romantic relationship. Research Question Is…

Does the Perfect Romantic Partner Exist? Falling in love is easier than falling out of love. Generally during courtship, partners are more concerned with leaving a positive impression on their future spouse. To achieve this, partners showcase their attractive personality traits and make efforts to live up to the idealized…

Two partners tying a marital knot cannot possibly fathom the complexity of the relationship that lies ahead. Once married, the success or failure of marriage is determined by a myriad of factors. Each partner is a unique agglomeration of stable personal dispositions that influence marital relationships. During courtship, partners typically …

Individuals high in neuroticism experience negative affect and social anxiety, therefore, they may prefer online communications where they are able to portray an idealized image of themselves to attract social support, seek validation, and enhance mood. These motivations may lead to greater social media use and addiction. My colleague and…

Social networking sites (SNSs) are increasingly becoming an integral part of many people’s lives. SNS provide a virtual platform through which individuals initiate new relationships while also maintaining and complementing offline relationships. My colleagues and I surveyed spouses who were social media users (female = 138, male = 46) to…

Marriage is an extremely complex relationship with an unpredictable destiny. Research involving separated or divorced couples signaled that lack of love is one of the two most cited reasons for divorce; the other reason is either an extramarital affair or communication difficulties (Kayser & Rao, 2006). Falling in love may…

Social media has stealthily become interwoven in our daily activities. Increased access to smart phones/gadgets and ubiquitous user-friendly applications have made it easy to connect with others with a mere swipe. These applications are designed to encourage maximum ‘dwell time’ (average time spent on the website/application), stretch ‘scroll depth’ (how…

Over-engagement with social media can potentially turn into social media addiction exhibiting symptoms of substance abuse such as deficient self-regulation, neglect of personal life, cognitive preoccupation, mood modifying experiences, tolerance, concealment of addictive behaviors, and escapism (Kuss & Griffiths, 2017). …

If your answer is ‘yes’ then read on… Interest in alternatives is a manifestation of low commitment. Researchers have found that social media is used to solicit romantic alternatives, irrespective of one’s relationship status. Romantic partners experiencing low commitment are more likely to send and accept friend requests with romantic…