The Science of Relationships

Recently, the Refinery29 gals decided to conduct their own social media-based experiment on “relationship visibility,” or the way we flaunt — or hide — our relationships on Facebook. The term “relationship visibility” is actually based on a well-known concept from The Science of Relationships referred to as “impression management,” which says that, according to our individual goals, we fabricate a certain perception to align with those goals.

This particular study used Facebook as its primary platform and set out to ask what our social media behavior says about not just our relationships, but our individual selves.

The hypothesis was a simple one: Anxious individuals, or those who are insecure in themselves or their relationship, are more likely to show off their coupledom via status updates and pictures. In other words, all those happy pictures of couples rubbing noses — and all those status updates about how Sally or Sam is the best S.O. in the world — may be a reflection of a.) insecurity and/or b.) wishful thinking.

In the end, researchers found that their hypothesis was, for the most part, accurate. Of course, there are some disclaimers, but that’s to be expected. Read more about the study here.

By Wendy Rose Gould

Image Credit: ShutterStock.com