Page 162 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

The role of SNSs in Sojourners’ Relational Adjustment
Chapters 4 and 5 aimed to investigate the relevance of SNS in a more intimate relational context, i.e., a romantic relationship. The studies presented in these chapters were based on the assertion that SNSs affordances may be relatively more relevant in long-distance romantic relationships (LDRR). LDRR often require more effort to maintain compared to geographically-close romantic relationships (GCRR) (Aylor, 2003). Communication processes, such as the use of SNSs, might mitigate the impact of distance in LDRR (Dindia, 2003).
Chapter 4 covered a study that investigated the relevance of SNSs in romantic relationship maintenance among international sojourners who are in LDRR. Using a cross-sectional study design, international sojourners in LDRR and individuals (from the general population) who are in GCRR were compared on the relevance of SNS in maintaining their romantic relationship, particularly in: 1) expressing involvement (via relational maintenance behaviors), 2) gauging a partner’s involvement (via partner surveillance), and 3) experiencing jealousy in the relationship. The findings showed that sojourners in LDRR were more likely than individuals in GCRR to use SNS for relationship maintenance; particularly by using SNS to express their involvement and to gauge their partner’s involvement in the relationship. In other words, those in a LDRR were more likely to perform relationship maintenance behaviors through SNS than those in a GCRR; and were also more likely to use SNS for partner surveillance and to experience SNS-related jealousy. These findings imply that SNS is relatively more important as a medium for relationship maintenance among those in LDRR than individuals in GCRR.
Chapter 5 extended the application of the general framework of sojourners’ adjustment in the context of romantic relationships. The study tested the proposition that the use of SNSs facilitates relationship support from SNS social networks, and this, in turn, predicts relational adjustment (i.e., relationship stability and satisfaction) in romantic relationships. Via SNSs, romantic couples are able to build and maintain a shared network (Tong & Walther, 2011). This could prove particularly relevant for those in LDRR, considering that they might have geographically separated social networks, or one of them is away from their established support networks (Weiner & Hannum, 2012). Comparing LDRR (of sojourners) from GCRR using a cross-sectional study design, the results revealed that SNS use could be a double-edged sword for sojourners’ LDRR: On the one hand, SNS use had a direct negative impact on relationship stability; on the other hand, SNS use increased relationship support, which in turn, increased relationship
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