Room for Interpretation: The Role of Self-Esteem and CMC in Romantic Couple Conflict

摘要

This work explores the role of communication technologies during romantic couple conflict, and the impact that selfesteem has on behavior, preferences for communication channels, and attitudes about mediated communication during conflict. Results revealed that lower levels of selfesteem and communicating via text messaging (vs. face-toface) were associated with increased distancing and perceived partner distancing behaviors. Lower levels of self-esteem and using mediated communication were also associated with a greater likelihood of thinking that a conflict had a negative impact on the relationship. Yet, there was no evidence to suggest that individuals with lower levels of self-esteem exhibited more negative behaviors and perceptions in text-based communication than in FtF communication. In addition, lower levels of self-esteem were associated with increased use of and preferences for text-based mediated communication over FtF communication during conflict. Overall, this study suggests that both self-esteem and communication channel impact the nature of romantic couple conflict.