Feb. 16--Contrary to popular wisdom, couples who appear all cute and smitten on Facebook may actually be all cute and smitten, according to new research.
In a study recently published in the Psychology of Popular Media Culture, researchers at University of Houston and Pennsylvania State University found 188 college students in committed relationships and asked them a series of questions aimed at measuring their relationship authenticity, both online and offline.
If they look happy on Facebook, researchers learned, they're probably happy in real life.
(So much for those Onion articles poking fun at our tendency to buff and polish our public images to an unrecognizable sheen.)
"Such public professions of one's couple identity may have positive effects on individuals' perceptions of their relationship quality due to the fact that these actions serve to publicly solidify one's commitment to the relationship," the authors write. "Relatedly, relationship awareness on Facebook may also be an important tool in prompting the individual to be more authentic in their relationship, thereby potentially increasing the person's sense of happiness and intimacy within the relationship."
Including your partner in your profile photo, linking your Facebook page to your partner's (by copping to being "in a relationship with" him or her) and posting photos of yourselves doing couple-y things all predict higher levels of relationship satisfaction.
"Posting pictures of oneself with one's partner might demonstrate a higher level of closeness and may lead to integration or inclusion of the partner into one's identity," the researchers found.
A willingness to appear off-the-market is also, not surprisingly, linked to a stronger relationship.
"Posting about one's relationship on Facebook may be positively related to the quality of the relationship because it symbolizes making a public commitment to the relationship," reads the study. "In making a public commitment to the relationship, an individual is highlighting to themselves and to others that the relationship is an integral part of his or her life."
I'm reminded of an interview I once did with Don and Carrie Cole, a married couple who are both Gottman Institute-trained couples counselors.
"There's the public relationship and there's the private relationship," Don Cole told me. "It's one thing to hold hands on the couch at home, but it's another to hold hands at the mall. One means, 'I really like you and I'm attracted to you,' and the other says, 'I'm really proud of you and I want people to know how happy I am that you're by my side.'
"Successful relationships," he said, "celebrate the public and the private."
Cue the usies.
hstevens@tribpub.com
