A new study shows that individuals who add love interests as “friends” on Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), while currently in a romantic relationship, have a low level of commitment to their significant other. Although this may seem obvious to some, the study wanted concrete evidence before stating their claims and beliefs.
Michelle Drouin, lead author of the paper and a psychologist at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne asserts, “People are using Facebook and other social media sites to make romantic connections with people they would entertain having a relationship with, even if they are in a committed romantic relationship.”
Additionally, Drouin and her colleagues have found that Facebook is cited in one third of divorce cases. Meaning, one of the spouses fault Facebook use for partially ending the marriage.
So, Drouin’s team recruited 109 female and 39 male undergraduate students, whom all had Facebook accounts. Her team asked them how likely they would accept a friend request based on their potential as a romantic love interest.
They also studied jealousy levels based on how jealous a participant would be if their boyfriend or girlfriend added a new friend of the opposite sex. Lastly, they asked the participants to rate these types of statements, “I am committed to maintaining my relationship with my partner” and “I want our relationship to last for a very long time.
The study showed that only connections made to a potential partner while in a monogamous relationship conveyed a lowered commitment level. On the other hand, old flames on a person’s friend’s list did not affect their commitment to their current mate.
Amy Muise, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, who was not involved in the study stated, “If someone you’re attracted to or you have feelings for reaches out to you, that might lead you to reevaluate your relationship. But more likely, you are already less committed, and so you are more interested in alternatives.”
Druin also shared that the study may not correspond to older adults who generally use the site and other social networking sites, less. In addition Druin conveyed,”Facebook is a reason why some people are breaking up, and why others are getting divorced. A lot more research in the future will be directed at social networking.”
