Resumen de “Using Facebook lets me know what he is doing:”: relational uncertainty, breakups, and renewals in on-again/off-again relationships
Michael G. Blight, Erin K. Ruppel, Kristy Jagiello
Uncertainty is a central but understudied element of on-again/off-again relationships, in which partners experience at least one renewal after a breakup. The current study investigates uncertainty reducing behaviors both generally and on Facebook. College-aged Facebook users (N = 220) responded to closed-ended measures of relational uncertainty and number of breakups and renewals, and open-ended questions regarding reasons for breakups/renewals and relational uncertainty reduction strategies. Relational uncertainty was higher among participants in an “off” stage and those who reported a higher number of breakups. The most reported behaviors on Facebook were passive (e.g., viewing a partner’s profile) and outside of Facebook were active (e.g., asking a mutual friend). These findings offer insight into the role of relational uncertainty in on-again/off-again relationships.
