Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting

In this project, we explored descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting and whether norms differed based on prior experiences with ghosting in romantic relationships. Ghosting is the act of unilaterally ceasing communication with a partner to dissolve a relationship. Perceived norms contribute to...

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Main Authors: Darcey N. Powell, Gili Freedman, Benjamin Le, Kiping D. Williams
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Masaryk University 2022-10-01
Series:Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15203
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author Darcey N. Powell
Gili Freedman
Benjamin Le
Kiping D. Williams
author_facet Darcey N. Powell
Gili Freedman
Benjamin Le
Kiping D. Williams
author_sort Darcey N. Powell
collection DOAJ
description In this project, we explored descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting and whether norms differed based on prior experiences with ghosting in romantic relationships. Ghosting is the act of unilaterally ceasing communication with a partner to dissolve a relationship. Perceived norms contribute to intentions and behaviors, but scholars have not previously investigated individuals’ perceived norms of ghosting (i.e., how common they think it is, how they think others react to ghosting). Adults (N = 863) on Prolific, residing in the United States, completed an online survey assessing their knowledge of, experience with, and perceived norms about ghosting in romantic relationships. A portion of these analyses were pre-registered on Open Science Framework. Descriptive norms regarding adults in general (i.e., societal-level) and their friends (i.e., personal-level) differed based on participants’ prior experience with ghosting in romantic relationships. Some injunctive norms at both the societal- and personal-levels also differed based on prior experience with ghosting in romantic relationships. Participants with prior ghosting experience thought ghosting of romantic partners was more common than those with no prior experience. Regardless of prior ghosting experience, participants tended to believe that individuals felt embarrassed/inadequate after being ghosted by a romantic partner. These analyses provide understanding about descriptive and injunctive norms regarding ghosting in romantic relationships and may be helpful to dating app developers in how they frame messaging about ghosting.
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spelling doaj.art-1ae02d5c56b5485abf80a46f14677fbb2024-03-23T13:14:09ZengMasaryk UniversityCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace1802-79622022-10-0116310.5817/CP2022-3-11Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghostingDarcey N. Powell0Gili Freedman1Benjamin Le2Kiping D. Williams3Department of Psychology, Roanoke CollegeDepartment of Psychology, St. Mary’s College of MarylandDepartment of Psychology, Haverford CollegeDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University In this project, we explored descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting and whether norms differed based on prior experiences with ghosting in romantic relationships. Ghosting is the act of unilaterally ceasing communication with a partner to dissolve a relationship. Perceived norms contribute to intentions and behaviors, but scholars have not previously investigated individuals’ perceived norms of ghosting (i.e., how common they think it is, how they think others react to ghosting). Adults (N = 863) on Prolific, residing in the United States, completed an online survey assessing their knowledge of, experience with, and perceived norms about ghosting in romantic relationships. A portion of these analyses were pre-registered on Open Science Framework. Descriptive norms regarding adults in general (i.e., societal-level) and their friends (i.e., personal-level) differed based on participants’ prior experience with ghosting in romantic relationships. Some injunctive norms at both the societal- and personal-levels also differed based on prior experience with ghosting in romantic relationships. Participants with prior ghosting experience thought ghosting of romantic partners was more common than those with no prior experience. Regardless of prior ghosting experience, participants tended to believe that individuals felt embarrassed/inadequate after being ghosted by a romantic partner. These analyses provide understanding about descriptive and injunctive norms regarding ghosting in romantic relationships and may be helpful to dating app developers in how they frame messaging about ghosting. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15203descriptive normsghostinginjunctive normsnormsrelationship dissolution
spellingShingle Darcey N. Powell
Gili Freedman
Benjamin Le
Kiping D. Williams
Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace
descriptive norms
ghosting
injunctive norms
norms
relationship dissolution
title Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
title_full Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
title_fullStr Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
title_full_unstemmed Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
title_short Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
title_sort exploring individuals descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting
topic descriptive norms
ghosting
injunctive norms
norms
relationship dissolution
url https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15203
work_keys_str_mv AT darceynpowell exploringindividualsdescriptiveandinjunctivenormsofghosting
AT gilifreedman exploringindividualsdescriptiveandinjunctivenormsofghosting
AT benjaminle exploringindividualsdescriptiveandinjunctivenormsofghosting
AT kipingdwilliams exploringindividualsdescriptiveandinjunctivenormsofghosting