title: Facebook and romantic relationships: intimacy and couple satisfaction associated with online social network use.
abstract: Online social networks, such as Facebook, have gained immense popularity and potentially affect the way people build and maintain interpersonal relationships. The present study sought to examine time spent on online social networks, as it relates to intimacy and relationship satisfaction experienced in romantic relationships. Results did not find relationships between an individual's usage of online social networks and his/her perception of relationship satisfaction and intimacy. However, the study found a negative relationship between intimacy and the perception of a romantic partner's use of online social networks. This finding may allude to an attributional bias in which individuals are more likely to perceive a partner's usage as negative compared to their own usage. Additionally, it was found that intimacy mediates the relationship between online social network usage and overall relationship satisfaction, which suggests that the level of intimacy experienced in a relationship may serve as a buffer that protects the overall level of satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, Texas 76105, USA. mmhand78@gmail.com
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hand
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Buboltz
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Deemer
authors.forename: Munkhsanaa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buyanjargal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D057566:Self Report; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D060756:Social Networking; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires