We have all seen how a flirtatious glance to you’re her boyfriend sent a girl into a jealous tail spin. Perhaps its one of the joys of youthful love.
Of course, it could happen without our knowledge. It probably does, as long as he comes home faithful to your love, right?
But now the rapidly expanding social network phenomenon, including Facebook, has changed the nature of social relationships.
Now if someone flirts with him online, it’s there for all to see.
Increased Facebook usage significantly predicts Facebook-related jealousy above and beyond personal and relationship factors states CyberPsychology & Behavior.
While there the media and anecdotal evidence suggesting Facebook may cause jealousy and suspicion in your love life, no study had been done to prove it.
So the Canadian researchers sort to explore the role of Facebook in the experience of jealousy. They had three hundred eight undergraduate students completed an online survey that assessed demographic and personality factors and explored respondents’ Facebook use.
The study used a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, controlling for individual, personality, and relationship factors.
The researchers concluded that reading their partners Facebook “exposes people to often ambiguous information about their partner that they may not otherwise have access to.”
Reading this “incites” a partner to “further Facebook use” which feeds the insecurity.
