Page 110 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

LDRR. Distance, and its inevitable consequence of limited physical togetherness, may threaten the continuation of the relationship and satisfaction of romantic partners (Mok, Wellman, & Basu, 2007). Moreover, GCRR couples have relatively more intact social networks (Weiner & Hannum, 2012). However, testing the model in LDRR context alone will not help determine if the model is unique for those in LDRR. A few studies have established that SNSs are deliberately used for romantic relationship maintenance in both LDRR and GCRR (Billedo et al., 2015; Dainton & Stokes, 2015). Thus, this study aimed to compare this mediation model
! among individuals in LDRR and GCRR. We would like to present the following research question:
RQ2: Is the mediation model of SNS use, SNS relationship support and perceived relationship quality similar in LDRR and GCRR?
Figure 1. The conceptual model showing the associations of SNS use with perceived relational outcomes and the mediating role of SNS relationship support.
Method
A total of 456 participants (331 women, 125 men) participated in this cross- sectional study. We recruited via Facebook by posting an announcement with a link to an online survey. For the first round of data gathering, we collected data from short-term migrants (e.g., international students, overseas workers/ expats, etc.) who were in LDRR. To participate in the study, respondents had to indicate that they were in a long-distance romantic relationship, that they were
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Participants and procedures
108 Chapter 5