Relational Deception: 'Til Facebook Due Us Part

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate romantic relational deception that occurs on Facebook based on participants’ gender, relationship status, and their amount of time spent on Facebook per week. Millennials as well as other age groups are interpersonally communicating, developing relationships, and possibly deceiving through computer-mediated communication such as Facebook. Therefore, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of interpersonal communication, deception, and infidelity that occurs through computer-mediated communication on Facebook. Interpersonal Deception Theory was used as the theoretical foundation for this study. 353 undergraduate students enrolled in a general public speaking course participated in a survey about their romantic relational deception on Facebook. Results from a MANOVA showed that male participants, participants who are in a committed relationship, and participants who spent more than 11 hours or more on Facebook per week self-reported significantly higher relational deception on Facebook.