The Effects of Social Media on College Dating Culture

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dc.contributor.authorCassar, Kacie
dc.contributor.departmentPsychologyen_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-25T14:18:56Z
dc.date.available2020-03-25T14:18:56Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractResearchers have looked at social media and dating culture of college students, but not the interaction of the two. Knowing how students interact with social media and direct messaging within their dating process provides a better understanding of the alternative methods for achieving desired relations, whether that be a committed relationship or a casual hook-up. Social Penetration Theory (Wang & Tang, 2012) was applied to explore the idea that gradually people reveal more about themselves as they get closer to another person. A total of 108 university students completed an online questionnaire related to experiences with dating history, romantic relationship status, and social media, including the concept of "Sliding into DMs" (direct messages) where an individual sends a direct message through a social media app to initiate a sexual relationship. Results confirm most students (97.2%) use social media daily and 1 in 5 have initiated a relationship through social media. Currently 25% of students are hooking-up while 43% are in a relationship. Half reported having slid into someone's DM, while 3 out 4 reported having responded to someone that had slid into their DM. Females are more likely to report someone slid into their DM. Additional findings are congruent with the social penetration theory. For example, a longer duration of time was reported in a DM conversation before gaining a relationship for those who had slid into someone's DM compared to those who hadn't, F (1, 24) = 7.105, p = .014, M = 4.25 (SD = 1.33) and M = 2.67 (SD = 1.033), respectively. College students were also more likely to report in-depth conversations online, compared to basic ones, before beginning either a relationship or a hook-up, regardless of whether they sent or received the DM. Overall results show that social media does play a role in many college students' dating processes.en_US
dc.format.extent67 pagesen_US
dc.genrethesesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2vumg-r5xe
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/17629
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtSalisbury Universityen_US
dc.subjectSocial mediaen_US
dc.subjectDatingen_US
dc.subjectCollege studentsen_US
dc.subjectRelationshipsen_US
dc.titleThe Effects of Social Media on College Dating Cultureen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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