Online and Offline Relationship Models

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to offline and online relationship models, including Knapp's stages, social media's impact on relationships, relational maintenance, electronic propinquity, Instagram study findings, ghosting, implicit theories of relationships, and para-social interactions.

Knapp's Relational Stages

A famous offline model describing how relationships come together, are maintained, and come apart, including stages like Initiating, Experimenting, Intensifying, Integrating, Bonding, Differentiating, Circumscribing, Stagnating, Avoiding, and Terminating.

Initiation (Escalation Model)

A very short stage focused on first impressions where physical appearance is important.

Experimentation (Escalation Model)

A stage where individuals get to know each other through shallow self-disclosures, assessing what a potential relationship would be like.

Intensification (Escalation Model)

A stage where self-disclosures deepen, individuals feel comfortable and close, communication intensifies, physical contact increases, and 'tests' of commitment may occur.

Endurance (Relationship Test)

A test where one person is put in uncomfortable situations to determine commitment.

Public Presentation (Relationship Test)

A test where one person is introduced as a boy/girlfriend to others.

Separation (Relationship Test)

A test to see whether communication and feelings continue despite distance.

Third-party questioning (Relationship Test)

A test where a friend tries to figure out how much one person likes another.

Triangle (Relationship Test)

A test to see if one person gets jealous.

Integration (Escalation Model)

A stage where lives become infused (e.g., moved in together, same friends, secrets revealed, discussion of future), and relationship maintenance begins.

Bonding (Escalation Model)

A stage involving a major public display of commitment, such as marriage or another public contract, signifying exclusivity for life.

Relationship Formation (Facebook Theme)

Facebook's role in the early stages of a relationship, often used in the experimenting stage between initial interaction and phone calls/text messages.

Social Information Processing Theory

Refers to how relationship formation can be 'stretched out' due to online interactions.

Social Exchange Theory

Suggests that perceived alternatives contribute to relationship satisfaction.

Relationship Information Seeking (Facebook Theme)

The act of using Facebook to gather information about a potential or current partner.

Unrequited Stalking

Information seeking that is one-sided, where one person knows a lot about another, but they know nothing in return.

Hyperpersonal Model

A model stating that CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication) can create exaggerated perceptions, potentially causing friction as people start at different points in a relationship.

Relationship Status as Social Statement (Facebook Theme)

The use of an individual's relationship status on Facebook to communicate exclusivity or relationship state to their social network.

Facebook Official (FBO)

The act of publicly declaring a relationship on Facebook, signifying that a couple is 'off the market' and has reached a new level of commitment.

Facebook as Double-Edged Sword (Facebook Theme)

The idea that Facebook can have both positive and negative impacts on relationships, such as causing pressure or jealousy.

Uncertainty Reduction (Facebook Theme)

Strategies used to reduce doubts or unknowns about a person or relationship, often through various Facebook activities.

Passive Strategy (Uncertainty Reduction)

Unobtrusively observing a person's posts and sifting through their pictures to gain information.

Active Strategy (Uncertainty Reduction)

Indirectly seeking information about a person through friends or family.

Interactive Strategy (Uncertainty Reduction)

Directly seeking information through commenting, DMs, or other direct communication.

Relational Maintenance

Strategies or behaviors used to keep a relationship in a desired state.

Openness (Relational Maintenance)

Direct discussions, listening to one another, encouraging disclosure of thoughts and feelings, and discussing relationship quality.

Assurance (Relational Maintenance)

Expressing the importance of the relationship, stressing commitment, implying a future, showing love, and demonstrating faithfulness.

Positivity (Relational Maintenance)

Making interactions cheerful and pleasant, being cooperative, building self-esteem, acting cheerful, and avoiding criticism.

Sharing Tasks (Relational Maintenance)

Performing routine tasks and chores in a relationship equally and sharing joint responsibilities.

Networks (Relational Maintenance)

Relying on the support of friends and family, spending time with common friends, and including them in activities.

Mundane Interactions (Relational Maintenance)

Sharing banal routines and everyday information, and spending time together even during boring tasks.

Joint Activities (Relational Maintenance)

Spending dedicated time together, engaging in shared hobbies, or planning outings.

Virtuals (Relationship Type)

Relationships initiated and maintained primarily through CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication).

Pinocchios (Relationship Type)

Relationships that start through CMC but eventually move to the real world.

Cyber Emigrants (Relationship Type)

Relationships that start offline but then move to CMC for maintenance.

Real Worlders (Relationship Type)

Relationships that start and are maintained entirely offline.

Theory of Electronic Propinquity

A theory explaining the psychological feeling of nearness ('subjective perception an individual holds that s/he is functionally, if not physically, close to someone else') in electronic communication.

Electronic Propinquity

The subjective perception an individual holds that they are functionally, if not physically, close to someone else through electronic means.

Bandwidth (Electronic Propinquity)

A factor that increases Electronic Propinquity.

Mutual Directionality (Electronic Propinquity)

A factor that increases Electronic Propinquity.

Communication Skills (Electronic Propinquity)

A factor that decreases Electronic Propinquity.

Information Complexity (Electronic Propinquity)

A factor that decreases Electronic Propinquity.

Number of Communication Rules (Electronic Propinquity)

A factor that decreases Electronic Propinquity.

Available Communication Channels (Electronic Propinquity)

A factor that increases Electronic Propinquity.

Partner Commitment (Instagram Study)

The psychological attachment and desire for sustained involvement in a relationship, predicted by satisfaction, alternative quality, and investments.

Relationship Engagement on IG

Measures such as the number of couple pictures posted and partner-initiated likes and comments on Instagram, indicating public involvement in a relationship.

Attention to Alternatives (Instagram Study)

How often one likes, comments on, or exchanges DMs with members of the preferred sex on Instagram, indicating a 'wandering eye'.

Alternative Partner Pursuit (Instagram Study)

The frequency of considering pursuing someone on Instagram, reconnecting with past relationships, or becoming romantically involved with someone on Instagram.

Ghosting

The act of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication.

Implicit Theories of Relationships

Underlying beliefs about how relationships function and develop.

Fixed Mind-set (Destiny Beliefs)

The belief that relationships are either meant to work or not, and people are destined to be together or not; associated with higher initial satisfaction for long relationships and using distancing as a coping mechanism.

Growth Mind-set (Growth Beliefs)

The belief that relationships grow over time and can improve through communication and teamwork; associated with fewer one-night stands, longer dating periods, and greater use of maintenance strategies.

Para-Social Interactions/Relationships (PSR)

A one-sided relationship between a media user and a media figure (e.g., celebrity, TV host, fictional character).

First Conceptualization (One-Sided PSR)

View of PSR where the media figure provides content and does all the talking, leading the media user to reflect, sympathize, and forgive, creating a feeling of contribution.

Second Conceptualization (One-Sided PSR)

View of PSR where the media user is the only one aware of the relationship, based on an accumulation of past shared experiences that gives additional meaning to current performances and leads to attributional confidence.

Attributional Confidence (PSR)

The ability to predict a media figure's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors across situations, strongly related to Para-Social Relationships.

Para-Social Breakups (PSB)

Negative affect experienced by individuals (especially those highly committed) when a favorite show ends or a media figure departs.

Paracommunication

A stronger form of Para-Social Interaction where media characters or AI actually talk back, intensifying the norms of interaction (e.g., video games, chatbots, therapeutic robots).

Uncanny Valley

A phenomenon where human replicas that are almost, but not quite, perfectly human cause a sense of revulsion or uneasiness in observers.