Facebook use and couple satisfaction. The mediating role of negative social comparison and self-esteem
Keywords:
Facebook, negative social comparison, self-esteem, couple satisfaction, coupleAbstract
The use of social networks, including Facebook, is a common practice among young people. However, some studies show that there is a negative association between Facebook use and the quality of one’s romantic relationship. This study aimed to: (1) show that higher levels of Facebook use would be related to lower levels of couple satisfaction; (2) show that negative social comparison, self-esteem and relationship contingent self-esteem would mediate the association between Facebook use and couple satisfaction. Our sample was composed from 152 participants involved in a romantic relationship. They completed some scales measuring the level of Facebook use (Orosz, Tóth-Király, & Bőthe, 2016), negative social comparison (de Vries & Kühne, 2015), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), relationship contingent self-esteem (Knee et al., 2008) and couple satisfaction (Funk & Rogge, 2007). The analyses showed that a higher level of Facebook use is positively associated with negative social comparison. In turn, this is negatively associated with couple satisfaction. Self-esteem is not associated with couple satisfaction, but relationship contingent self-esteem is. Although the double mediation models have not been supported by the results, they show that there is an indirect effect of Facebook use (more precisely, of all its factors) on couple satisfaction through negative social comparison and that relationship contingent self-esteem mediates the relationship between Facebook overuse and couple satisfaction. This study is the first to test the above-mentioned relationships on a Romanian population, the first that links relationship contingent self-esteem with Facebook use and negative social comparison and it can be used as a starting point for developing intervention methods aimed to prevent the decrease of couple satisfaction due to the overuse of social networks.
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