Attitudes towards passwords sharing in cohabiting partners

ABSTRACT

Contemporary communication technology has permeated into the social fabric and has transformed the ways people interact, consume, and exchange information. Currently, virtual socialization is prevalent through social networking sites (SNS). SNS use can also threaten romantic relationships by facilitating infidelity, jealousy, and conflict. Partners may resort to engaging in online surveillance to guard their mate. We surveyed N = 277 adults (68.9% women; M_age = 35.19, SD = 10.65) who are living together in a marital or committed relationship with a partner. In a logistic regression analysis we examined whether relationship commitment, relationship satisfaction, perceived quality of alternatives, social media infidelity-related behaviors (SMIRB), or neuroticism predicted favorable or unfavorable attitudes towards password sharing. After controlling for gender, we found that only SMIRB was negatively associated with attitudes toward password sharing. Those who reported engaging in greater SMIRB behaviors were least likely to endorse password sharing. Implications and limitations are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Commitment
• Social media
• SNS infidelity
• Neuroticism