The Connection between Social Media Use and Relationship Satisfaction

Abstract

The active use of social media can potentially jeopardize the quality of romantic relationships. The present study contributes to the existing research body investigating the connection between social media use and relationship satisfaction, by focusing on the users’ social media activity, their relationship visibility, relationship satisfaction and the different types of intimacy. We conducted a web-based data collection where participants (n 418) completed various types of questionnaires, namely the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) (Jenkins-Guarnieri, 2013), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, 1985), the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) (Hendrick, 1988), Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR) (Schaefer & Olson, 1981), and an additional questionnaire created to study the visibility of romantic relationships on social media. To analyze the collected data, first a correlation analysis was conducted. The findings show that there is a negative correlation between social media activity and romantic relationship satisfaction. Besides, social media activity is negatively associated with emotional, intellectual, recreational and social intimacy. No negative correlation has been found regarding social media activity and sexual intimacy. The correlation analysis also indicates that the users’ visibility on social networks is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction and with all types of intimacy, predominantly with social and recreational intimacy. In the second part of the study, a series of moderated regression analysis were carried out. These analyses have shown that social media activity does not moderate the association between romantic relationships’ visibility on social media and relationship satisfaction.