GIANCARLO VITA

Long Distance Relationships

Research Questions

How affective is the use of CMC when there is a long distance relationship?

Can relationships truly prosper through geographical distances, or is CMC not efficient enough to salvage relationships?

Acronyms and Terminology

SNS: Social Networking Site CMC: Computer-mediated communication LD: Long-Distance Weak ties: responsible for the majority of the fixity and

structure of social networks in society. Bridging social capital: Large network of weak ties

between friends and acquaintances Bonding social capital: Relationships with close family and

friends Maintained social capital: Relationships from a long-

distance network, such as high school friends.

High School Separation

After graduation, most friendships must part ways because colleges may introduce geographical distances.

Some of these friendships may end, regardless of emotional ties in high school.

High school relationships are faced with the decisions of: A) Breaking things off before leaving B) Trying to make things work

together

CMC in Interpersonal Communication

CMC and the Conceptualization of “Friendship”Johnson, Amy J., Becker, Jennifer A.

Increased the possibility and expectations for sustaining close connections despite geographic distance.

Former theories suggested that lack of face-to-face interaction would have “high maintenance costs.”

Because of technology, friendships are aptly described as flexible

“Highly elastic” which means that it all depends on the individual who is pursuing to continue this relationship

Long-Distance Failure Theories

Individuals must invest more time and energy in long-distance friendships;

Individuals cannot as easily engage in frequent talk;

Individuals cannot as readily provide emotional and instrumental support.

Support

Differences in the quality of social support between geographically close and long-distance friendships.

Weiner, A.

A total of 142 undergraduate students completed a survey which questioned the social support obtained through friendship networks. Geographically close friends provide more received support than their long-distance  counterparts.

There was no consistent difference between groups for perceived support.

Uncertainty

“Will It Ever End?’’: A (Re)examination of Uncertainty in College Student Long-Distance Dating Relationships

Maguire, K.

• “Results indicated that participants, who were uncertain about ever living in the same city, as their partners were significantly more distressed, less satisfied, and rated communication coping strategies as less helpful than those who felt more certain about reunion.”

Uncertainty Cont.

“Research in the area of stress and coping suggests that a close relationship with a romantic partner helps individuals cope with stress.”

“Given that somewhere between 25% and 50% of college student-dating relationships can be classified as “long-distance” and therefore may be subject to distress, it becomes important the possible sources of difficulty.”

Absence

Absence makes the communication grow fonder: Geographic separation, interpersonal media, and intimacy in dating

relationships Jiang, L.

• “Research suggest that long-distance (LD) romantic relationships are of equal or even more trust and satisfaction than their geographically close (GC) counterparts.”

• LD couples: • Engage in more adaptive self-disclosure,• Form more idealized relationship perceptions

Opinions from Students

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr_Am6SQldo

Additional Sources

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/living/relationships-long-distance-benefits/

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/lots-of-college-freshmen-are-about-to-dump-their-high-school-sweethearts/281860/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-solis/social-media-obstacle-to-_b_3815356.html

http://well.wvu.edu/articles/should_we_stay_together__tips_for_long_distance_relationships