Online Communication Attitude Similarity in Romantic Dyads: Predicting Couples’ Frequency of E-Mail, Instant Messaging, and Social Networking Site Communication

摘要

Following the interaction enjoyment approach (Burleson & Denton, 1992), thisrninvestigation examined whether (a) romantic couples possess similar online communicationrnattitudes and (b) such attitudes predict frequency of email, instant messaging,rnand social networking site communication between dyad members. Results indicatedrncouples possessed similar attitudes toward online social connection but not onlinernself-disclosure; moreover, couples’ attitudes predicted media use in a communal pattern,rnwith equivalent actor and partner effects. Attitude toward online social connection positivelyrnpredicted all forms of online communication, with attitude toward online selfdisclosurernpositively predicting social networking site communication and inverselyrnpredicting e-mail communication. One implication of these results is that relational contextrnmay moderate the extent to which individual attitudes predict media use patterns.