Development Of Online Relationships Research Articles

Sexualities of Imagined Bodies During a Time of Social Isolation

As the world shifted into social isolation at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, many found remote dating to be their only outlet for romantic and sexual interaction. In this paper, I examine the constructed reality of personal advertisements in the COVID‐19 era. I focus on the meaning individuals find in online dating and how they use their imagination in the development of online relationships. I followed the stories of those individuals who took out personal advertisements in the New York Review of Books at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. Although I draw on textual analysis of these advertisements, I am less concerned with the genre and more concerned with the ad authors' relationships to online dating. By conducting interviews, I found that online relationships offer their own distinct pleasures and that their format affords individuals more freedom of self‐presentation and expression than in‐person dating, thereby setting participants up for potentially more successful romantic first impressions.

Online Dating in Japan: A Test of Social Information Processing Theory

This study examines the experiences of past and present members of a popular Japanese online dating site in order to explore the extent to which Western-based theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the development of online relationships are relevant to the Japanese online dating experience. Specifically, it examines whether social information processing theory (SIPT) is applicable to Japanese online dating interactions, and how and to what extent Japanese daters overcome the limitations of CMC through the use of contextual and other cues. Thirty-six current members and 27 former members of Match.com Japan completed an online survey. Using issue-based procedures for grounded theory analysis, we found strong support for SIPT. Japanese online daters adapt their efforts to present and acquire social information using the cues that the online dating platform provides, although many of these cues are specific to Japanese social context.

The Effect of Anticipated Future Interaction and Initial Impression Valence on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction

Prior research on social information processing theory (SIPT; Walther, 1992) has established the anticipation of future interaction (AFI) as a motivator of online relationship development (Walther, 1994). The present study tests the proposition that, although initial development may be the product of AFI, continued development occurs as a function of the valence of the impression formed in the initial interaction (Sunnafrank, 1986). An experiment with a 2 (AFI versus No AFI) × 2 (positive versus negative impression) × 2 (time) design was conducted to assess this proposition along five relational communication dimensions. Results from four of the tests revealed support for the prediction. The implications of the results for SIPT and the study of online relational communication are discussed.

Computer-Mediated Relationship Development: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

This study extends prior scholarship on the role of self-disclosure in relationship development on the Internet in three different cultures: Korea, Japan, and the United States. The duration of the online relationship was considered as well as the two typical dimensions (i.e., breadth and depth) of self-disclosure. The results suggest some cross-cultural differences and similarities in the associations between self-disclosure and relationship qualities. For Americans, Japanese, and Koreans, self-disclosure was directly associated with online relationship development. However, the relationship between self-disclosure and trust was positive only for Americans.

Age/sex/location: uncovering the social cues in the development of online relationships.

Past research on online relationships has predominantly been concerned with how the quality of online relationships compares with offline relationships. This research has been more concerned with the medium itself than with the meanings that users construct around their interpersonal interactions within this medium. The current paper seeks to redress this imbalance by exploring the ways that available social cues are used to shape the meanings of online relationships. Sixty Internet users, ranging in age from 19-51 years, were interviewed about their online relationships. It was found that ideals that are important in traditional relationships, such as trust, honesty, and commitment are just as important in online relationships; however, the cues that signify these ideals vary.