Social Media’s Influence on the Attitudes of Younger Daughters-in-Law towards their Mothers-in-Law: A South African Context

Abstract

This systematic review explores social media’s influence on the attitudes of younger daughters-in-law towards their mothers-in-law within the South African context. The researchers carried out the “Preferred Reporting Items for the Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” guidelines as a research methodology. The scientific search databases such as Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, ResearchGate, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Sabinet and Taylor & Francis were used by the researchers to retrieve and analyse information from fourteen peer-reviewed journal articles (n=14) published between 2012 and 2023. Social media use is quickly expanding and families rely on it to stay in touch with their loved ones on a regular basis. Although social media has greatly enhanced the lives of many people, some cultures still value face-to-face interactions, especially in situations where they have to fulfil their traditional practices such as welcoming a daughter-in-law into their family or engaging in specific sensitive conversations. The study is limited to the South African context. Therefore, the role of family systems should be further explored to understand the mother-and-daughter-in-law relationship. More studies can be conducted to explore the role of culture in marriage and in-law relationships within the South African context. The study is valuable as it paves the way for further studies relating to the topic within the South African context. Further, this study is pivotal because it was conducted to help both daughters- and mothers-in-law strengthen and handle their online in-law relationships.