In a study of 308 Facebook users, researchers discovered that people who are more prone to jealousy will find Facebook just reinforces that jealousy.
The researchers created their own specialized quiz for the study, called the Facebook Jealousy scale. The scale is composed of 27 items that are measured on a 7-point scale from “very likely” to “very unlikely” that assess Facebook-related jealousy. According to the study, sample items include “How likely are you to become jealous after your partner has added an unknown member of the opposite sex?” and “How likely are you to monitor your partner’s activities on Facebook?”
The researchers (Muise et al., 2009) collected the data for this study as a part of a larger study being conducted on Facebook. Most participants were in a seriously committed relationship:
At the time of the survey, the majority of the participants were in a relationship in which they were seriously dating one person (50.5%); other participants were casually dating one or more partners (8.3%), in an open relationship (3.7%), living with a partner but not married (3.0%), married (0.7%), or divorced/separated (0.3%). The remaining 33.6 percent of participants were not currently dating anyone.
In their study sample, the researchers found that most of the people surveyed spent about 40 minutes/day on Facebook and had somewhere between 25 and 1,000 “friends” on Facebook, with the mean being about 300.
Did you know most of us add previous boyfriends or girlfriends to our Facebook friends?
The majority of participants (74.6%) were at least somewhat likely to add previous romantic or sexual partners as friends on Facebook, and 78.9% reported that their partner has added previous romantic or sexual partners as friends.
And of course, most people reported that there were some friends on their Facebook page that their partner did not know.
Not surprisingly, the researchers found that if you’re more likely to be a jealous person (what psychologists call “trait jealousy”), you’re more likely to have “Facebook jealousy” too. Women were more likely to be jealous than men. And here’s the kicker — time spent on Facebook contributed a tiny part to Facebook jealousy. (Women spend more time on Facebook than men.)
The researchers say, “Our data showed a significant association between time spent on Facebook and jealousy-related feelings and behaviors experienced on Facebook.”
They then ask the important chicken-or-the-egg question, “Is time spent on Facebook increasing jealousy, or is the heightened level of jealousy that may emerge as a result of the information found on partners’ Facebook postings resulting in increased time on Facebook? We argue that both options are inevitably intertwined.”
The researchers furthermore this can set up an unintentional self-reinforcing feedback loop:
Our results suggest that Facebook may expose an individual to potentially jealousy-provoking information about their partner, which creates a feedback loop whereby heightened jealousy leads to increased surveillance of a partner’s Facebook page. Persistent surveillance results in further exposure to jealousy-provoking information.
The key thing to keep in mind though is that Facebook isn’t going to cause someone who wasn’t jealous in the first place to become jealous. The researchers’ findings only show that if you’re a pretty jealous person to begin with, the more time you spend on Facebook, the more jealous you’re likely to become.
Reference:
Muise, A., Christofides, E. & Desmarais, S. (2009). More Information than You Ever Wanted: Does Facebook Bring Out the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealousy? CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(4), 441-444.
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13 Comments to
“Facebook Reinforces Relationship Jealousy”
In other news, people need to grow up.
that makes a perfect sense, facebook is a website that allows humans to interact and see each other, its like a cocktail party, since jealousy can happen in the real world it will surely happen on FB too
Great article, John, and an interesting study. I think Face Book is not unlike a new boyfriend or girlfriend itself. Everyone is excited, “Oh, how many friends do I have!” Suddenly one has more friends than one can keep up with and no one cares if your mate has 100 friends or 200 friends because we are all so busy.
Jealousy and envy are dark emotions. Ann & Barry Ulanov wrote Cinderella & Her Sisters: The Envied and The Envying over 20 years ago. It’s a fascinating book, scholarly and practical because it addresses both being the envier and being the subject of envy.
Bottom line is I agree with the findings re FB and the jealously trait. People have a jealous nature or they don’t. I also think if one is raised by a jealous parent I would encourage that person to become conscious of that observation sooner rather than later so that your own world won’t be filtered through that same dark lense.
Mary Jane Hurley Brant, M.S., CGP
Author of When Every Day Matters
Simple Abundance Press, Oct. 1, 2008
http://WhenEveryDayMatters.com
I personally know of 3 people who have left their relationships for someone who’s been added as a “friend” on Facebook. While the site can be great for interacting with real friends and getting back in touch with old ones it certainly is capable of causing a lot of heartache too.
I am one of the people who are insecure and jealous. My ex who is not good for me is seeing someone now and I check her facebook each day. She documents when they have sex or fight. I just hate myself for doing it.
Of course it is important to study the impact of new forms of human interaction on our relationships but it is equally true that our problems arise because of inherent issues within ourselves and not because of the medium used. Because information flow on facebook is quicker and faster, realities that would take time to unfold end up opening up too quickly. The problems are always within us and between us not in the medium. What would be interesting to study is how it is impacting general friendships and also the immense advantages and benefits it is bringing to our social and professional relationships.
I briefly introduced my girlfriend to a friend of mine, later that night she added him to her facebook, and she texted me about it after. Is it ok for me to ask why, should she have asked me before just out of respect?
Yes, I think so.
Thanks for responding Katrin, if anyone else some some good insight on my issue please do comment. After I sked, she got really upset about it and said that I was jealous.
Both me (male) & my partner (female)have had a facebook account for sometime now,me around 1year,her around 3yrs,we have been in our relationship for around 5yrs now,and facebook has added to whatever problems we already had due to past relationships,me being very insecure due to my last 2 relationships ending with unfaithful partners,and hers being in a violent & controling relationship,my girlfriend is also 16yrs younger than myself,stuningly beautiful and nothing more than a man magnet ! under normal circumstanses i have no real problem with any of that obviously,but over the past few years facebook has now also started to cause us both problems due to either lack of trust or quantity of men ! (on hers of course) i must addmit it all started with stupid comments from men flirting with her giving it the hello babe n that kind of thing,no big deal really even if it did piss me off slightly ! but the main problems facebook is causing is the fact that sinse we had a bit of a fall out one day,she deleted me as a friend,changed her profile to being single,blocked me,and refuses point blank to change any of it back to the way it should be,she has never ever mentioned a single word of the fact that she even has a boyfriend and has so for 5yrs,never showed a photo or anything at all to do with me or our relationship ! even after repeatidly asking her for over 2yrs now to do so,yet my account was the opposite,i was in a relationship,had more phot’s of her on there than i can remember and had no problem mentioning her or talking about her at all,she addmits to being in contact with some guys she met on holiday before we met,and emailing the one she was close with even though she knows im not too happy with it,i also know she has ex boyfriends on there,and also a friend of her brothers who thought he would have a go at trying to get her into bed a while back through phoning and texting her while i was at work ! obviously until i was home early 1 night and found out ! to try and make her see some sense i also gave her my password to look into my facebook account,but even that turned against me,she looked in my messages and found 1 message from me to a work friend saying “she is stunning,how can she be single” it was no more than a comment about her mate that ended in me being kicked out ! even recently i have sat and tried talking to her and explaining how all this makes me even more insecure and is just wrong but still she refuses to change anything at all or even really make any sort of compramise ! is it just me or would anyone agree that it sounds like i have something to worry about here apart from her selfish attitude ! ?? id love to hear other peoples points on any of this ??
Colin!!! oh friend! I had a similar relationship.. this boy was extremely flirting, all the time. the truth is of COURSE HE WAS CHEATING!!!! of course he was. if SHE never says that she is in a relationship with you, she doesn’t really care about your relationship! COME ON!!! OPEN your eyes!!!!
I have duffered to leave my boyfriend… but he admitted he is a sex addict.. and a womanizer and he wont change…
this people never change…
I had a boyfriend 10 years ago… he is 10 year older than me. Now he found me on myspace… similar to facebook. He is married; he has 2 kids and a stepdaughter. He bits his wife, she beats him to. He found me on internet. i lived a hell last year. He said he loves me. He wanted to have an affair with me. HE said all those lies married men say, that he was planning to leave her, and divorced her. We communicate through internet, as we live in different cities. He was my first love, I was 16 and he 25. 8 years ago he asked me to marry him, He even talk with my parents. My dad send me to another town.. not by force.. but for me to study and to think better about the situation. I called him one day.. and he says she was goind to get married. It broke my heart. I just think about die.. 8 years later, thank to INTERNET, myspace, hotmail..etc! THIS sick dude reached me. ANd wrote me the most beautiful email.. and how regret he was of leaving me. he is a self confess sex/addict, very sadistic.. he tried to straggle his wife. I used to think I love him… we continued talking for a year on internet. then i realized the problem wasnt his wife.. but HIM! and i realized he is involved with a lot of women on internet and in real life. the most side part it’s he was the first men in my life. we were christians at the time. he is a self proclaimed CHRISTIAN MUSICIAN!!!! i hate myself… I’m scared about myspace, or facebook.. i afraid this awful men will reach me again… Internet can be a very harmful thing… I had ad all that reactions of checking his page, etc. its like an addiction. I have been “sober” about a year now 
I don’t look for him anymore.. I cut any link between us! and I feel great! I’m still a little afraid of internet places like myspace or face book.. but that experience teaches me to be more careful.. next time
Currently, researching Social Networking linked to Domestic Violence.
Just read this disturbing account, in the UK, of 23 year old Sean Beaver beating his partner (who had been on Facebook) with a baseball bat.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 11 Aug 2009
