The effects of social media use on relationship ideals, satisfaction, and commitment

Project Context and Objective: Deciding to invest in a close relationship with another person can be difficult despite the realization that close friendships or romantic partnerships require intentional investment at some point. Failure to invest sufficiently, however, can lead to superficial social connections, feelings of social isolation and, ultimately, mental health problems. Nevertheless, little is understood about the mental models that guide people's relationship investment decisions (RID). This lack of understanding is particularly worrisome in light of recent reports that many young adults (YA) miss meaningful relationships in their lives. Feelings of social isolation among YA are particularly high in ardent social media (SM) users, but the directionality of this link requires urgent clarification: Can frequent use of SM increase social isolation (both online and offline) or do young adults who feel isolated simply use SM more? The current PhD project aims to address this important question.

Project Methodology, Novelty, and Impact: A series of experiments will examine the psychological effects of frequent SM use on effective RID in YA. Their design will draw on contemporary models of impression formation, social norm acquisition, and relationship maintenance. In doing so, they will obtain novel qualitative and quantitative data on the effects of high (vs. low) exposure to other people's aspirational social photographs as commonly shared on SM. These data will address whether and how witnessing photographs of other people's positive social encounters affects YA' own relationship satisfaction, relationship investment, and subjective well-being via spontaneous comparisons of their own ('flawed') relationships against other people's (seemingly 'flawless') relationships. The work promises to uncover a mechanism explaining the link between SM use and feelings of social isolation. It also offers a starting point for further research (e.g., Who is most affected by these comparisons?), including for interventions that may help to inoculate YA against unrealistic social expectations and ineffective RID.

Project Alignment with EPSRC Strategy: The project falls under the ESPRC Theme 'Digital Economy', which addresses "how the use of digital technologies can contribute to an [...] inclusive society" and shall involve "users in [...] driving research that addresses real world problems". In line with these priorities, the project examines how typical users of SM are affected by common SM content (especially relationship displays), aiming to provide insights into how feelings of social isolation can grow (or shrink) based on people's involvement with digital technology.

In many contemporary societies such as the United Kingdom, young adults report increasing feelings of social isolation. Such feelings are particularly high in ardent social media users, but the origin and directionality of this link remains unclear. The current PhD project therefore aims to adopt an experimental approach to scrutinize the psychological impact of social media use on feelings and experiences of social isolation (versus connectedness).
Drawing on contemporary models of social impression formation and attachment theory, the project will specifically examine how high (vs. low) exposure to overly positive relationship displays involving familiar and unfamiliar others (as commonly distributed on Facebook and Instagramm) affects young adults' own relationship ideals, satisfaction, commitment, and investment. To do so, it will primarily draw on experimental techniques from behavioural science. By scrutinizing how social media use can benefit (or hinder) close relationship formation and maintenance in typical social media users the project falls under the ESPRC theme 'Digital Economy', which addresses "how the use of digital technologies can contribute to an inclusive society" and shall involve "users in driving research that addresses real world