“In a Relationship”: Understanding the Associations between Social Media Use and Relational Well-Being

Mara Kimmel¹, Ashley K. Randall, PhD², Kevin Lau², Taylor A. Kizer³ & Mickey Langlais, PhD³

1 = Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

2= Counseling & Counseling Psychology, Arizona State University, Arizona, U.S.A.

3= Family Studies, University of Nebraska – Kearney, NE, U.S.A.

1= 29, route d’Esch, L-3340 Huncherange, Luxembourg, +352 621 4747 08, mara.kimmel@unifr.ch

“In a Relationship”: Understanding the Associations between Social Media Use and Relational Well-Being

Background. Social media use (e.g., Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, and Twitter) has increased over the past decade; however, little is known about the associations between social media use and relational well-being. The purpose of this exploratory study is two-fold. First, we provide descriptive data on the frequency and use of social networking sites (SNS). Second, we provide descriptive analyses on the associations between social media use and relational outcomes for individuals currently in a romantic relationship.

Methods. Participants were recruited from two areas of the U.S. Eligible participants had to be of legal age (18 in Arizona; 17.5 in Nebraska, (individuals are viewed as legal adults if they are enrolled in college full-time)), resulting in a sample of 261 participants. Of these, 53 reported being single, and were removed from the current sample. The final sample included 208 participants ranging in age from 17.5 to 68.4 years (men: M = 27.33, SD = 11.12; women: M = 27.49, SD = 9.96). A majority of participants were female (n=163).

Most participants identified as Non-Hispanic white (81.6%), followed by Latino/a (7.7%), Asian or Asian American (4.8%), African American (1.9%), and 3.9% indicated an “other” racial background. Approximately 50.5% of the participants had completed at least some college courses.

In terms of relationship status, 51% reported being in a committed relationship, 36.5% were married, 7.7% were casually dating, and 4.8% were engaged. On average, participants reported being in a relationship for approximately 5.79 years (SD = 7.47; range = 2 weeks to 43 years).

Data collection. Eligible participants completed a baseline survey (20 minutes). Following the baseline survey, participants were instructed to complete a series of 10 daily diary surveys (not reported in the current analysis).

Results. Participants reported using multiple SNS: 94.2% “regularly” use Facebook, 70.7%, SnapChat, 60.1%, Instagram, 38%, Twitter and 7.7%, indicated other SNS (e.g. Pinterest). Participants spent an average of 72.5 minutes per day on Facebook (SD = 65.63; range = 0 - 360), 43.40 minutes on SnapChat (SD = 78.92; range = 0 - 800), 27.19 minutes on Instagram (SD = 43.09; range = 0 - 300), 15.25 minutes on Twitter (SD = 34.13; range = 0 - 300), and 5.94 minutes on other SNS (SD = 29.50; range = 0 - 240).

Approximately 21% reported never updating their status and only 2.5% indicated to update their status (on any SMS) “all the time.” Approximately 6% never comment on others’ posts, whereas 6.8% reported to make comments all the time. A majority (55%) reported looking at others’ posts all the time, whereas no participants reported never looking what others’ “are up to.” Approximately 7.9% never use social media to send private messages and 11.3% use SNS for this purpose all the time.

Associations between social media use and relationship outcomes. Approximately 27% of the sample (n=56) reported no change in relationship satisfaction following seeing their partner's profile or postings on their social media page, while 12.1% (n=25) reported feeling more satisfied all the time following seeing their partner’s social media activities. Approximately 30% (n=63) reported that the content on their romantic partner’s social media pages did not impact their relationship security, whereas 15.9% (n=33) reported the opposite.

A majority (48.3%, n=100) reported that social media did not contribute to feelings of intimacy. Additionally, most participants (42.5%, n=88) reported that viewing something on their partner’s page did not make them feel jealous. Approximately 38.6% (n=80) reported never having any arguments with their partner due to their social media use, 61% (n=127) reported some arguments, and 5.3% (n=11) arguing “all the time.”

Conclusion and added values. Results support recent reports that the use of social media is a part of daily life (Abel, Buff, & Burr, 2016); however, the associations between social media use and relational outcomes have yet to be investigated. Our results suggest that the use of social media is not associated with feelings of satisfaction or security in one’s relationship. A majority of participants reported having at least some arguments due to excessive social media use. These results highlight the importance for examining possible moderators, like self-esteem, which may impact the association between daily relational stressors and social media use. Limitations and future directions will be discussed.

Keywords: social media use, romantic relationships, well-being

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