The Link Between Social Media Interaction and Infidelity

Man and woman looking at phones

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Social media can be used to facilitate contact with friends, former friends, or even former romantic partners, through messaging or via interactions and comments on social media posts. Sometimes, although more rarely, we may even begin to perceive social media friends as possible romantic alternatives to our current partners. In addition to this, we know that social media interaction and online interaction are characterised generally by lower levels of inhibition, whereby people are bolder and more candid in what they say. What is the level of social media interaction that is acceptable between us and those outside of our romantic relationships? Furthermore, is there a connection between social media interaction and possible infidelity?

This was investigated by Irum Saeed Abbasi from San Jose State University, California. Abbasi employed 365 participants ranging in age from 18 to 73. About one-third of participants reported being married, half reported casually dating, and the remainder said they were in a committed relationship. In order to assess infidelity related behaviour on social media, participants in the study completed the Social Media Infidelity-Related Behaviour Scale. An example item: “'I sometimes like to chat or message old romantic partners online or on social networking sites." Participants responded from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Participants also completed the Modified Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire that measured behavioural addiction. An example item from the scale: “'I feel connected to others when I use social media.” Responses were again ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree.’

Initially, Abbasi found a simple relationship in that social networking site addiction was found to be positively related to social networking site infidelity. Participants who scored higher on social media addiction also scored higher on social media-related infidelity behaviour.

However, this relationship was to an extent affected by age. Younger participants scored higher on social network site addiction and also social network infidelity in comparison to those who were older. More specifically as age increased, the association became weaker. This age difference is explained by the researcher as being a consequence of younger individuals perhaps taking more risks compared with older individuals, and therefore also more likely than older individuals to take more risks while online. Furthermore, Facebook use is generally higher in younger people, mainly driven by a wish to use new technologies. This explains why younger individuals are more likely to develop an internet addiction. Older individuals use social media less, generally because the need to compare and connect with friends, reduces with age.

In terms of gender, Abbasi found no difference between males and females, although men did score higher on the SNS infidelity measure compared with women.

Numerous previous findings have linked Facebook use with higher levels of jealousy between romantic partners, driving them to engage in social media surveillance behaviour, eventually leading to lower levels of relationship trust. Social media interactions can become compulsive, which may ultimately lead to flirting and perhaps unfaithful behaviour. The study described here adds to our understanding of infidelity driven by social media use in finding that younger individuals are more likely to engage in social media infidelity because they are likely to take more risks online.