How Lebanese serious romantic relationships are affected by facebook : a social penetration approach

Abstract

An online survey was conducted to understand how Social Networking Sites such as Facebook can impact Lebanese serious romantic relationships (20-40 years old).196 participants through snowball sampling provided information about their significant other and replied to questions dealing with elements of relationship satisfaction, stage of relationship, Facebook usage, meeting new people, surveillance, and jealousy. ANOVA and independent T-test sample were used to measure whether there is an association between certain Facebook behaviors and feelings on romantic relationships. Referring back to results, it was apparent that Facebook usage was a significant predictor of partner surveillance but not on jealousy. Additionally, there wasn’t an association between contacting past or future partners and jealousy in a relationship. The social penetration theory adapted from Altman and Taylor (1973) was used to describe the stages a relationship undergoes from orientation into stable exchange. This developmental theory demonstrated the growth in relationship stages. Results found phase of relationship did not have a significant effect on the amount of surveillance within a relationship. Results also indicated that there was a significant association between stage of relationship and meeting new people.